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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT: 














THE DESTROYERS 


BY 

JOHN F. GARTER, Jr. 

n 


New York and Washington 
THE NEALE PUBOSHING COMPANY 
1907 


LIBRARY of C0 NG«Es 5 
Tw# Copies HeceivoG 

DEC 31 1907 

Oopyrifiu tntry 

/ ElASSA W^C* 

(\ /%mi 


Copyright, 1907, by 
The Neale Publishing Company. 



First published 
in December, igoy^ 


THE DESTROYERS 



CHAPTER 1 


It was June of the odd year. The two- 
year contracts and other agreements under 
the present scale would expire on the first of 
April, During February would be held the 
conference of operators and miners at which 
would be determined the terms of the con- 
tracts for the two years following. The new 
anti-boycott law, passed during the recent leg- 
islative session, had aroused labor almost to 
a state of frenzy. The blacklisting of those 
firms which dared defy the dictates of the 
labor leaders had been one of the chief en- 
joyments of the local meetings. The fight- 
ing of any merchant who failed to employ 
union clerks, or who sold goods of any kind 
not made by recognized union labor, had be- 
come a mania. The employment of that 
means of strengthening unionism had been 
growing year by year, as merchants were 
driven to bankruptcy or to a recognition of 
the union strength. Several States had en- 
acted more stringent anti-boycott laws, and a 
howl had gone up from labor; but it was 
never thought that this State, overrun with 


6 


The Destroyers 


unions, would pass a law so disastrous to the 
organizations as was this enactment. Labor 
leaders, ever watchful of their own interests, 
had for years maintained a band of lobbyists 
at the capital. In the present year there had 
been passed no law favorable to labor be- 
cause labor had made no especial demands. 
But three days before adjournment there sud- 
denly swept into the house this anti-boycott 
bill, and before the labor lobbyists could get 
a hold on affairs it had gone through com- 
mittees, been passed by both houses, and was 
immediately given the signature of the Lieu- 
tenant-Governor, the Chief Executive being 
away from the State at the time, not having 
expected anything of importance at the close 
of the session, which, to say the most, had 
been quiet enough. Labor had lost beneath 
the banner of its own Governor! The fine 
hand of Thomas Steele had pointed the way. 
Labor ranted and swore and cursed its min- 
ions in the legislature, but they were too 
dumfounded to make reply. The force be- 
hind the bill had been kept secret. 

Among the miners it was the generally ac- 
cepted idea that a demand would be made in 
the next joint conference to change the price 
for digging, in this district, to fifty-four cents. 


The Destroyers 7 

the present price being forty-nine. The 
miners could not be taught by the operators 
that such a price was unreasonable, for they 
simply calculated that the difference between 
the selling price at the point of delivery and 
the price of digging was all profit. Cost of 
haul to the market and all the expense of 
maintaining and operating a coal mine are 
lost to many of those who have no capital in- 
vested in the enterprise. Fenton’s position 
relative to the larger coal markets is, perhaps, 
the poorest in the State. The haul is a long 
one to any of the centers; hence the cost is 
greater and the time for delivery is above 
that of other mining districts. 

That a battle between capital and labor in 
the mining sphere would be commenced dur- 
ing the early spring Steele felt assured. For 
weeks he had figured on the problem and was 
now come to the solution. 

In former times the men had the sympathy 
of the people, for it had been shown plainly 
enough for the ordinarily prejudiced man to 
comprehend, that the operators were working 
for no one but themselves and were trying to 
grind poor labor to bedrock in their greed for 
the dollar almighty. The chiefest problem 


8 


The Destroyers 


was the manner in which this popular opinion 
was to be won away from labor. 

The summer trade did not amount, as is 
usual, to very much, and the miners found 
themselves ready and willing to go at the 
work with all energy when the coal-digging 
busy season opened in August. Fall orders 
were pouring in, and the whistle blew each 
morning at seven, the full eight hours being 
worked to keep the cars clear of the switches. 
On the first day of September the workmen 
were informed that mine No. i would not be 
operated for one day owing to the breaking 
of one of the cage ropes. Never before had 
the mine been short of an extra rope for just 
such accidental cases, and the top workmen 
were much puzzled over the evident disap- 
pearance of a rope which they were sure had 
been behind the engine-room for several 
weeks. On the following morning it was an- 
nounced at mine No. 2 that the same accident 
had occurred, and that the mine would not 
be operated for several days. Of the Steele 
mining interests at Fenton only shaft No. 3 
was at work. Orders from each of the other 
two mines were shifted to No. 3 to be filled. 
The new ropes arrived in a few days and 
were installed. The miners were anxious to 


The Destroyers 


9 


get back to work; this rate would not make 
their envelopes bulge on pay-day. When the 
new ropes had been placed in position and the 
cages were running smoothly the management 
announced on the bulletin boards that owing 
to the falling in of rooms, the presence of gas 
in several entries, and the overflows of water 
in both rooms and entries, the two shafts 
would be closed until full repairs could be 
made; that all company men would be re- 
tained and that repairs would be carried on 
as rapidly as practicable. 

The thirty days of September passed, and 
the miners began to fret, wondering why the 
repairs could not be hurried. The company 
men brought them news of the progress of 
the work, telling them that so many more 
rooms had been caving in that the work 
seemed interminable; that the water had been 
pumped out quite speedily, but gas was yet 
present in large quantities. All the mules 
had been removed and the finer parts in the 
electrical hauling machinery had been brought 
to the surface to save from damage. 

Came the first week of October. Thurs- 
day evening, the regular meeting night of the 
local, arrived to find the miners in rather ill 
humor. They were not at all satisfied with 


10 The Destroyers 

this turn of affairs. The first part of the 
meeting was orderly enough, but when “the 
good of the order” became the topic for dis- 
cussion, open to all, the more hot-headed 
members of the union had reached just that 
temperature at which steam must be allowed 
to blow off to avoid an explosion. The first 
short speech made only slight reference to the 
conditions which existed at the two mines; 
the second, brought on by some of the utter- 
ances of the first, was more strongly put; 
then followed a roar as many members leaped 
to their feet and demanded recognition. 
Pandemonium reigned. How the chairman 
was able to recognize the speakers, or 
whether he ever did, must always be a debat- 
able question. Steele became the target for 
the sharpest anathemas ever hurled at an em- 
ployer. He was called by every name in the 
English tongue, and by many not so recorded. 
Had some supernatural power suddenly 
placed him on the floor he would surely have 
been mobbed. The miners were wrought to 
a frenzy. There were those in the meeting 
who kept cool, but were unable to curb the 
expressions of the majority. The men had 
not come to the meeting with any intent of 
carrying out the things which were done, but 


The Destroyers 


It 


when the council had adjourned, out of com- 
mon impulse rather than by motion, the Fen- 
ton local had declared a strike and had or- 
dered that the workmen in mine No. 3 cease 
labor at once. 

In a mob they surged out to the streets and, 
struck by the cool evening breeze, they felt 
somewhat relieved. The great talking which 
they had done and the fact that they had de- 
clared strike were looked upon as the com; 
ponent parts of victory. They felt they had 
the capitalist ogre by the throat, and were 
now about to strangle him. 

The morning papers told little of the pro- 
ceedings. The reporters had been able to 
get nothing but the results of the meeting — 
the fact that strike had been ordered, even 
without consulting the men higher up, and 
that the busiest part of the coal-digging sea- 
son was to be one of war. The Tribune spoke 
slightingly of the manner in which the pro- 
ceedings had been conducted, saying that 
some warning should have been given to the 
operator before the final action was taken; 
at least, that a conference should have been 
asked, and that every means should have been 
employed to keep peace, by calling on the 
higher officials to attempt to straighten a 


12 


The Destroyers 


sadly muddled affair. It looked upon the 
strike as one which had been brought on by 
the anger of the miners, without cause, and 
berated those who were leaders of the move- 
ment. The words of some of the men who 
had emerged from the meeting were quoted, 
which quotations referred to Thomas Steele 
very strongly. These charges were treated 
editorially, and shown by the Tribune to be 
entirely false and without foundation. The 
reputation of the young millionaire was 
shown to be above reproach, and his action 
in closing the mines for repairs, and in keep- 
ing them closed until every improvement was 
entirely complete, was lauded as being for the 
safety of human lives and for the betterment 
of the workingman’s condition. Further- 
more, it was stated authoritatively that the 
mines had been placed in thorough repair and 
that the whistle would blow this morning at 
the regular time. 

The words of the Press were of the same 
general trend, and the same authoritative 
statement concerning the opening of the mines 
was made. 

At the usual hour, while the good people 
of Fenton were at their breakfast and were 
reading the sensational news in the morning 


The Destroyers 


13 


papers, the whistle of shaft No. 3 was blown, 
followed a moment later by the fog-horn 
blasts of mines i and 2. For five minutes 
they blew their welcome to those who wished 
to work. Around each shaft gathered small 
crowds, but no one went down. The strike 
was on. One thousand diggers in Fenton 
were voluntarily out of work. One thousand 
miners had declared against their own bread- 
winning. 

In a private back room of the saloon on 
the first floor of the union local hall gathered 
that morning five leaders in the movement. 
Donohue, the president; Leary, the secretary, 
and three active non-officeholders of the or- 
ganization carefully canvassed the situation, 
after due discussion of which they took up 
the work of writing the minutes of the pre- 
vious night’s meeting, motions, seconds, reso- 
lutions — everything that was demanded in a 
perfect set of minutes, as they measured per- 
fection. When this document had been com- 
pleted and carefully copied, and signed by 
president and secretary, it plainly presented 
the case — from the standpoint of these five. 
When mailed to the State headquarters it ex- 
plained that Thomas Steele, operator of 
mines i, 2 and 3 in Fenton, had caused the 


14 


The Destroyers 


lockout of thirty-five days’ duration (at the 
present date) on the pretext of repairing the 
rooms and entries; that under no ordinary 
conditions could there have been any fall- 
ing-in or any great flow of gas, as the mines 
had been kept in the best of condition; and, 
further, since every man interviewed had said 
positively that his room ahd the entries 
thereto were in good order at the time they 
had last been in them ; that during the weeks 
just preceding the lockout Steele had been 
arbitrary and unreasonable in many instances, 
twice having refused to see committees which 
had been sent up to his office during the day 
to suggest and advise certain needed changes 
in operation. On the whole, it made out a 
plain case against Steele, and asked for the 
aid of the supreme body and its officials. 


CHAPTER II 


On Friday and Saturday mornings when 
the whistles of the Steele mines blew for work 
no one went down. The strike was really on. 

Sunday morning broke as one of those rare 
days in October, characteristic of the middle 
north at this season, cool and bracing, skies 
clear blue, and the sun smiling on earth in all 
its Indian-summer radiance. Steele, occupy- 
ing his usual seat in church, attired fashion- 
ably in morning dress, as was his custom, was 
the cynosure of all eyes : of business men be- 
cause of excellence and sternness in the con- 
duct of his affairs; of the miners because of 
their bitterness for him; of matrons because 
of his eligibility and wealth; of the young 
ladies because he was comely and almost regal 
in bearing. A full six feet, broad-shouldered, 
erect, with a strong face, as chiseled from 
marble so clearly were the features cut; eyes 
that were blue and twinkling, yet carrying 
with them an expression of alertness and 
watchfulness, — Thomas Steele at an observ- 
ant woman’s second glance. 

As the minister rose to announce the sub- 


1 6 The Destroyers 

ject of his sermon there was more attention 
being paid to Steele, perhaps, than to the rev- 
erend gentleman, but the announcement, in 
tones clear and distinct, came like a blow to 
those quick at calculating distances and at 
measuring words : 

“This morning I shall take as my text three 
verses from Ecclesiastes: ‘The fool foldeth 
his hands together, and eateth his own flesh, 
saying, better is a handful with rest than both 
hands full with vexation of mind’; and ‘Be 
not quickly angry, for anger resteth in the 
bosom of a fool.’ ” 

There was a perceptible flutter as the 
meaning of these words, as applied to local 
conditions, came upon the people. Was the 
minister about to discourse upon so partisan 
a subject as this? 

Rev. Carling was a very popular preacher. 
Of about middle age, well read, not only in 
theology, but in general topics of the day, 
and a student of economic questions and labor 
conditions, he won high favor with the lead- 
ing people of the city, who saw in him a man 
of wide learning and wisdom. They treated 
him as a real church leader because he was 
more the stamp of a man than the narrow 
disquisitipnist on abstract topics of theology. 


The Destroyers 


17 


He had not yet made the mistake of being 
partisan, either in the pulpit or out of it. His 
sermons were more concerning practical life, 
with biblical applications, than long drawn- 
out discourses on subjects beyond the ordi- 
nary understanding. No one had gone to 
sleep in the church since he had become the 
pastor, three years before. The religion he 
preached is modernly known as “practical.” 

Now the congregation was wondering. 

Divided on the questions of strikes and the 
labor situation, it saw the pit into which he 
would surely fall if he approached incau- 
tiously too close to the edge. 

The surprise of the sermon, however, was 
greater than the expectation of what might 
have been. Without any direct reference to 
local conditions, without any mention of labor 
and capital as they are treated at the present, 
without speaking of strikes and disagreements 
between employers and employees, he made 
his sermon a lesson from which every man 
could draw the finest rules for a good and 
practical life. To those who were following 
him closely, and there were many, he left the 
inference that the present labor trouble was 
brought on by anger alone, and that the 


1 8 The Destroyers 

strikers could not hope to win, either on earth 
or in the sight of God, while fighting against 
one of their fellow-men who had done them 
no harm and who showed every evidence of 
working for the benefit of the entire commun- 
ity, offering work at a time when it was 
needed, but which was not being accepted. 

It was evident that the majority of the con- 
gregation was fully in accord with his line of 
thought. He had won a battle for young 
Steele ; or, rather, the first skirmish. It gave 
the strength which was necessary for the of- 
fense to be offered later. 

As the closing hymn was being sung Rev- 
erend Carling made his way, as was his wont, 
to the rear of the church so that he could be 
in position to shake hands with the congre- 
gation and shower upon it the welcome which 
had caused the recently rapid growth of the 
church. Steele was among the first to leave 
the pew at the conclusion of the hymn and 
the benediction, and at the door the minister 
grasped his hand. The old banker, James 
Spencer, approached, and, after greeting both 
the minister and Steele, extended an invita- 
tion to the young man to join his family at 
dinner. He was entertaining a young lady, 
daughter of an old schoolmate, and wished 


The Destroyers 


19 


Steele to meet her. The invitation was ac- 
cepted gladly, and in a few minutes Steele 
was outside waiting for the Spencer party. 
Here, he thought, he would be clear of the 
crowd, but he was mistaken. As they 
emerged from the edifice some bowed, while 
many approached to shake hands and to pass 
the weather or to make some friendly remark 
of general import. The situation became lit- 
tle less than an informal reception. Why, he 
did not know, but many who had merely 
nodded to him on the streets the day before 
were now greeting him as cordially as if he 
were a very close friend. Some wonderful 
change had been wrought: he felt closer to 
the people than at any time since he had come 
to Fenton. 

“Mr. Steele, this is Miss Markham; you 
are acquainted with Mrs. Spencer. Miss 
Markham^ is a daughter of one of my old 
mates at Harvard. She has come to make an 
investigation before deciding whether she 
will live with us. You must help me cover 
our defects.” 

James Spencer was a man with whom an 
introduction was a pleasure, and he knew so 
well the art of bringing people together that 
he made a difficult position one of pleasure 


20 


The Destroyers 


and ease. There was an indefinable some- 
thing about his easy manner which eliminated 
all that straining search for fitting, proper 
sentences which is so apparent at first meet- 
ings. A fine conversationalist himself, he was 
never at loss for a subject which was timely 
appropriate, of particular interest to those 
concerned, yet so general that opinions could 
be expressed without reserve or deferential 
caution. 

At dinner Steele had an excellent oppor- 
tunity to study the young woman, a practice 
which he usually followed during the first few 
sentences; but everything had been so free 
on this occasion that he had forgotten a lead- 
ing rule of his life. She was fair — he had 
discovered that at the first glance, and at that 
first glance he did not care particularly to 
know any more. Her face was a combina- 
tion of beauty and strength, which is rare, 
and she appealed to him at once. He had 
dreamed of such faces but had never seen one. 
It was of the oval type; nose, Grecian, with 
just the slightest inclination of a tip; eyes 
veiled behind long, dark lashes, from which 
they beamed softly and ever with rapt atten- 
tion; their color he determined at once as 
blue, though they wer^ dancing and laughing 


The Destroyers 


21 


so much he found himself in a maze when he 
looked into them, yet dared not look away 
for fear that they would vanish; her speech 
was sprightly and her quips evidenced the fact 
that she was a woman who could see and ap- 
preciate humor, a dangerous thing in a wo- 
man. The dinner was the “jolliest since the 
old college days.” The breeze of the east 
blew upon him as she told him of his Alma 
Mater, and described the preparations for the 
season on the gridiron. 

With dinner over the gentlemen remained 
to smoke. 

“Quite an entertaining young lady, eh, 
Tom?” 

“Such triteness won’t apply in this case, 
Mr. Spencer. She is one of the most wonder- 
ful girls I have had the pleasure of meeting. 
She’s charming to the utmost.” 

“Why, my boy, I believe you’re in love al- 
ready I” 

“If I plead guilty you cannot find cause for 
blame,” with a laugh as he lighted his cigar. 
“You say she is the daughter of an old col- 
lege mate?” 

“Yes, Harry Markham and I were the 
best of friends in the old days, and after com- 
mencement we went into business together. 


22 


The Destroyers 


We were partners for a number of years. 
When he married I was his best man, and my 
promise after this child was born was that in 
case of the death of both parents she should 
have a home beneath my roof. At that time 
it looked as if father and mother would die 
of a malady which had become epidemic. 
The mother did die after several months, but 
Harry lived until a short while ago — four 
years now. Edith was then brought up in the 
art schools of Paris. She is of age by several 
years and has the disposition of her own prop- 
erty, but has appointed me guardian during 
some litigation, possibly because she recalls 
the strong friendship, and also that her prop- 
erty would have been under my guardianship 
had her father died before she was of age. 
There are several suits pending and I am 
winding them up. Partly because of this busi- 
ness she has come with us for a while, though 
I would be glad if she would stay. A good 
idea, don’t you think?” He smiled a ques- 
tion, too, at the younger man. 

“Under the circumstances, I should say 
yes.” 

“Now, Tom, how about this mine trou- 
ble?” 

“Well, I think it will be a fight if the 


The Destroyers 23 

miners don’t come back at once. You under- 
stand, of course, that if my mines do not be- 
gin to operate within the next few days I shall 
be thrown completely out of the market and 
there will be little use in trying to run until 
next season opens. The local trade won’t 
keep more than one shaft in operation.” 

“Do you think they will return this week?” 

“No; after thinking about it I feel certain 
that for some reason they are in to light me. 
I can’t discover any cause for the strike ex- 
cepting anger over the closing of two of the 
shafts for repairs. Some of them may have 
the idea that it was a lockout, but further 
than that I can see no reason why they should 
wish to ‘take a handful with rest.’ ” 

Further conversation was suddenly stopped. 

“Don’t the gentlemen think it would be an 
excellent idea to enjoy a few moments on the 
veranda, where they would be able to have 
some of the bracing October air and enjoy, 
too, the refining influences of feminine com- 
pany?” Mrs. Spencer had always expressed 
a horror and disgust for the practice of 
gentlemen smoking after dinner. 

The party on the veranda did not long 
number four, however. In a short half-hour 
the old gentlemen found excuse for going to 


24 


The Destroyers 


the library to attend to some important work, 
and Mrs. Spencer, who had seen her hus- 
band’s sly wink, asked pardon for going to 
her room to write a few letters. 

“Do you know, I was dreadfully afraid to 
meet you when Mrs. Spencer said this morn- 
ing that you would be invited to dinner?” she 
ventured. 

“Why was that? Where had you ever 
heard of me?” 

“Heard of you I Your picture and articles 
about your mines and the strike is all that I 
could see in any of the papers on the train. 
Of course, it was all interesting to me because 
I was coming here for a while and I wished to 
know as much about Fenton as possible. 
How will it end? Will the strike last long?” 

“I know as little about that as you.” 

“You do not seem to be worried. What 
are you going to do to settle the strike?” 

“I never cross a stream until I come to it.” 

“But suppose they have burned the 
bridges?” 

“Then I jump, or maybe swim. But I 
cross.” 

“Don’t you think you are dreadfully con- 
ceited?” she asked with a show of sarcasm, 
though pleasantly. 


The Destroyers 


25 


“IVe never looked at it that way. I am 
pleased to call it confidence, self-reliance. 
Conceit sounds too harsh, and is not any more 
to the point.” 

“You remind me a great deal of a good 
friend of mine in Paris. He is an American, 
a correspondent for one of the New York 
papers. Phil Canby is one of these typi- 
cal—” 

“Phil Canby!” 

“Yes; he is an old Yale man, too. Been 
in Paris four years. Why, are. — do you know 
him?” 

“Class of ’06?” 

“Yes.” 

“Well I should say I do know him! He 
was a better chum than my roommate. News- 
paper correspondent, is he ?” 

“Yes, and he was getting along finely until 
a lot of young fellows, young amateurs, 
rushed in ‘where angels fear to tread.’ ” 

“Well”; his forehead drew down in a 
frown, “I have been wondering for several 
years what had become of Phil. I believe I 
shall write to him.” 

The evening walk up the hill set his think- 
ing machinery into full motion for the com- 
ing battle. He needed Canby, and he could 


26 


The Destroyers 


not wait for the mails to carry his message. 
That is why he despatched a cablegram to 
Paris asking Canby to come — that he would 
be met in New York by a first-class proposi- 
tion ; answer was desired at once. On Mon- 
day morning about noon, the answer came. 

“Coming, next steamer. 


nr* 


CHAPTER III 


The next week found Steele much with 
Miss Edith Markham. In his auto car he 
showed her every place of interest in the city ; 
on horseback they made the country roads 
and drives; in launch they traveled up and 
down the river. Every nook and corner of 
the roads, every spot along the stream, all 
that which had any attraction for him he 
showed to her. He told her how he and his 
father had spent the afternoons and evenings 
along these ways, happy, like boys together; 
and how he had always had a yearning for 
a younger companion, some one who could fly 
far afield with him. 

In the mornings Steele was at his office 
early, among ojther things directing the move- 
ment of great loads of poles from the supply 
building to the fields of slack surrounding the 
mine. To these piles were added loads of 
lumber, of two-inch thickness. The air- 
pumping apparatus was kept at work to 
ventilate the shafts, and company men were 
employed in cleaning out the long-unused 
entries which connected each of the three 


28 


The Destroyers 


mines with the others. Along these entries 
was run an extension of the electric lighting 
system, the current for which was supplied 
from the engine-room at mine No. i. 

On Saturday evening Steele’s grips were 
brought to the office and he departed for 
New York. Notices appeared in the personal 
columns of the Saturday evening papers and 
the Sunday morning editions to the effect that 
he had gone to meet an old college chum who 
was to spend the winter at Fenton. Long 
stories were also published explaining the 
position of Steele in the strike; that he was 
willing to operate at once, but that if the 
miners were not ready to resume work by the 
time he returned he would be forced to close 
the mines indefinitely because of the loss of 
fall orders; that he would try to arrange 
some plan during his absence by which the 
mines could be worked again, since he was 
anxious not to have the people of Fenton suf- 
fer because of any obstinacy on his part. 

Steele arrived in New York in time to meet 
Canby. At the hotel they enjoyed a long 
talk about old times, and Steele explained his 
proposition by which Canby could study the 
mining business and later come into the firm 


The Destroyers 29 

as a working partner, if he was sufficiently 
pleased with the work. 

Late that evening Steele was closeted with 
a stranger who presented himself just after 
dinner. Farr was an undersized man, power- 
fully built, with heavy broad shoulders, a 
thick neck surmounted by a head which much 
resembled a bullet. His hair was closely 
cropped, his eyebrows heavy and overhanging 
the eyes in a perpetual frown. His resem- 
blance was strong to what is known as the 
“Bowery tough.” The redeeming features 
were the steadiness of the eyes and his man- 
ner of language. He spoke in quiet tones, 
his words well chosen and at times almost 
eloquent; there was no shiftiness to his ex- 
pression. Judged by these two, his eyes and 
his voice, he was a shrewd business man, 
watchful and energetic — the kind that does 
things. Steele took a fancy to him because 
of these characteristics. He recognized that 
diplomatic and artful language in dealing 
with Farr would be of no avail. The busi- 
ness which was to be transacted must be done 
directly and in the open with no mincing of 
words. The conditions and the terms of the 
agreement were immediately entered into and 
the man stated a somewhat large salary. No 


30 


The Destroyers 


feature of the work was left untouched, so 
far as could be planned ahead of time. At 
the conclusion of the talk, which lasted but 
an hour, they arose from the table, an en- 
velope was handed to Farr, and they parted. 

On the day following, Steele and Canby 
took a trip about the city and then tried a 
little run to New Haven to see the Princeton- 
Yale game. Three days more went by in re- 
newing old acquaintances. Canby was enjoy- 
ing it and Steele seemed to be in no particu- 
lar hurry to return to Fenton. In the mean- 
time, Canby was learning of the conditions 
which existed and was being told precisely 
what his part in the strike would be, if the 
present trouble continued. The conversation 
with Farr was not mentioned further than 
the mere reference that he was a man who 
would have something to say in the future 
operation of the mines, as Steele considered 
him an able man in his calling and a man who 
could be trusted in emergencies at such 
periods as this. 

Two weeks from the day of his departure 
Steele, accompanied by Phil Canby, stepped 
off at the depot of Fenton. On Sunday Spen- 
cer was again the host at dinner. It was a 
merry dinner party, even merrier than that of 


The Destroyers 


3 ^ 


three weeks agone, Canby having been taken 
completely by surprise at the presence ot 
Edith. 

Conditions had changed in the strike situa- 
tion since he had gone, and now the miners 
were in open avowal that they would not 
work under the present management — that 
they would “stay to see the mines rot before 
they would resume work.” Two strangers 
were working among the miners. They ar- 
rived a week in advance of Steele, and in that 
week the quiet attitude of the miners had been 
transformed to a condition bordering on 
frenzy. These two men, Stockton and 
Winch, represented themselves as local of- 
ficials of unions in Pennsylvania, and proof 
had been made of their representations by the 
Tribune. At the time of their arrival the 
miners had been ready to return to work — 
but now all was changed. Under the leader- 
ship of these strangers the men were becom- 
ing restless; they would not listen to reason; 
offers of whatever nature were turned aside. 
Something or somebody actuated them to de- 
clare against Steele personally, and they re- 
fused to listen to any settlement of the strike 
while he was in charge. 

On Monday following the return of Steele 


32 


The Destroyers 


the Tribune issued with a lengthy editorial 
explaining the situation, showing that the de- 
mands of the miners were out of reason, since 
it should not be asked by any one that Steele 
give up his property and leave its manage- 
ment; it showed that the value of his prop- 
erty had thereby been lessened, and should he 
desire to sell he could only do so at a great 
loss. The Tribune asked again for the exact 
reasons why the miners were on strike and the 
specific charges which they could make against 
Steele — all pro bono publico. 

In reply came threats. The miners de- 
nounced Editor Brandon from every street 
corner as a “scab,” and hissed him as he 
passed. That night there was a public 
demonstration by two score of the angry 
union men in front of the Tribune office; 
during the scene some one hurled a rock 
through the window beyond which was the 
big three-deck press ; the police attempted to 
disperse the crowd, and, failing in this, a 
riot call was sent in. Then came a general 
^melee in which four of the miners were ar- 
rested and locked up. The news of the riot 
spread rapidly over the city and a mob of 
angry miners gathered about the jail in an 
effort tp have the prisoners released. A coni- 


The Destroyers 


33 


mittee called on the chief of police and the 
mayor, demanding that the men be turned 
loose at once. The demand was refused. 
Again there was a demonstration. The 
mayor and chief were spoken of as “scabs,” 
and threats were made against them as well 
as any one who would sympathize with the 
methods which were employed in “keeping 
honest men in jail.” 

A second time the police were called upon 
to quell the trouble, and three score of the 
miners were placed behind the bars. Noisy 
demonstration ceased, but all through the 
night little gatherings of angry men stood 
about the streets and mumbled their threats 
and imprecations upon Steele, Brandon, the 
mayor and the chief of police. The one re- 
deeming feature of the entire affair was in the 
fact that very little drinking had character- 
ized the evening’s occurrences. 

In his room that evening Steele heard the 
entire story from Canby. The philosophy of 
Steele, one of the keenest manipulators of 
men, one of the most relentless executors of 
daring plans, lay in this : scientists know that 
effects will follow causes ; the successful 
operator of interests has learned that causes 
3 


34 


The Destroyers 


produce effects. He would rather be syn- 
thetic than analytic, a constructor rather than 
a destroyer, a producer of effects than a seeker 
for causes. 

The morning editions of the Tribune and 
the Press were quite sensational. It had been 
long since the Tribune had deviated so far 
from its accustomed policy as to yield a por- 
tion of the first page to a local story. But 
this morning the story of “last night’s dis- 
graceful orgies” flared forth in large body 
type from beneath a box-car head across the 
full width! The conservative old “Tr/Z?” 
had done itself in flashing yellow. Four half- 
tones of the leaders of the mob caught the eye 
at once, especially since the names were 
printed in heavy-face type in red: The issue 
was in two colors : the four names in red, the 
remainder in black. The story was well told, 
that dramatic, interest-holding color having 
been added in such places as to cause the 
reader to hunger for more. 

This much finished, the reader naturally 
turned to the editorial page, for the Tribunes 
expressive editorials were as well read as any 
news. The Tribune held opinions on all sub- 
jects, and dared tell them. Unlike a large 
.number of the modern newspapers, it printed 


The Destroyers 


35 


the news and was fearless in its expressions. 
William Brandon rarely finished his writings 
in a hurry; when he said a thing once in an 
editorial he considered that sufficient. Instead 
of placing emphasis by repetition he used 
more forceful language. Long periods were 
to him an abomination; he preferred the 
rapid-fire of short sentences. 

The editorial on this morning was not 
radical in expression, nor vindictive in tone. 
Briefly, it stated the conditions of the 
previous night, and followed with a demand 
upon the civil authorities to stamp out such 
lawlessness at whatever cost. It made a 
worse case of the mob at the jail than that 
which had besieged the Tribune; stated that 
all should be given the maximum fine, and 
other charges should be preferred against 
those who had defied the law in the mayor’s 
office and at the office of the chief. 

Though the Press did not use so much of 
the local story, omitting the pictures entirely, 
the editorial expressions were as strongly put 
as those of the Tribune. 

In the city court each of the seven men was 
fined the limit on two charges, and the fines 
were not paid. 

In the afternoon Steele called at the 


36 The Destroyers 

Spencer home and was met in a breeze of 
welcome. 

“I had not expected to see you on the 
streets to-day,” with a smile in which pleasure 
was plain. 

“Nor am I anxious to be on the streets. I 
would go into the country if you wish to make 
the trip.” 

She was radiant. Steele had not seen 
Edith Markham looking so like the picture 
painted in his imagination in the dream hours. 
To-day she seemed more charming than be- 
fore. She was so like a queen — and he dis- 
covered in her the veriest chum. With her 
he felt free from the trammels of business ; to 
her he dared say the things he would not say 
to others. She inspired in him the old feeling 
of camaraderie not felt since his college days. 
They had known each other but a short time, 
and the fact that she had known Canby so 
well and had been so interested in subjects of 
interest to him had builded the friendship. 
It could be nothing more. She was just one 
of those magnetic persons who attract all 
people and who are loved by all alike for 
their charm, their beauty, and the easy, 
friendly manner in which they carry them- 
selves. 


The Destroyers 


37 


She came down the steps smiling as happily 
as a schoolgirl, ready for the ride. He helped 
her into the car, started the motor, and took a 
seat beside her. With a leap the big car 
moved quickly away; and they sped through 
the outskirts to the straight country roads be- 
yond. The car absorbed all of his attention 
and she, realizing this, said but little which 
could not be answered in monosyllables. 
Along the back river road they went like a 
flash, his hand firmly on the levers, his eyes 
narrowed, almost closed, peering ahead to 
watch the rapidly advancing road. Suddenly 
a huge rock loomed bn one side and a ditch on 
the other. They seemed to have escaped his 
notice, for his speed was not lessened. Un- 
consciously she straightened against the back 
of the seat and watched him. One wrist 
turned, the car gave a slight lurch and they 
passed fairly between the rock and the ditch, 
touching one while on the edge of the other. 

“Are you afraid of nothing?” half in 
deprecation. 

“Not that human hands can conquer,” as 
he slowed down to the conversational speed- 
limit. 

“IVe been sitting here watching you guide 


38 


The Destroyers 


this car and I have felt glad. You are living 
and acting to my ideal of you.” 

“I am glad of that, if you are quite compli- 
mentary to your ideal.” 

“Yes — I think — I am. I have ridden with 
some daring drivers, but never with one who 
seemed to take it so easily as you, so com- 
fortably and happily. You are not going to 
be conceited, are you?” 

“Didn’t you say I am the paramount of 
conceit already?” 

“Laughingly, perhaps. But you are too 
confident.” 

“I wish I could be. I might do more, 
might say more than I sometimes do.” 

“It’s not always words that count. You 
could not run this machine nor control your 
business if you could not do things.” 

“A piece of mechanism is an easy thing to 
handle. The hand needs but to be trained 
and the eye quick to see.” 

“Doesn’t the same rule, almost, apply to 
everything else?” she asked. 

“I had not looked at it in that light. Can 
the rules which apply in the conduct of a 
business or a simple auto car apply to other 
affairs?” 

“Assuredly, in my philosophy,” she 


The Destroyers 39 

answered slowly and seemingly with medita- 
tion. “They could even apply in love.” 

“Perhaps I am a dullard. You would not 
mind explaining the application?” The car 
had been brought to a speed at which auto 
cars rarely travel, and the road had no more 
attraction for him. 

“Doesn’t a woman demand that her lover 
or her husband shall be able to do things? 
Doesn’t she ask that his hand be firm ? Isn’t 
she always anxious that he shall be the con- 
trolling spirit in all things, in all movements 
in which he is connected?” 

“You are asking me questions instead of 
answering mine.” 

“If — if I should fall in love with a man, — 
I — should wish him to be big and strong, a 
factor in the world, a man who could guide 
affairs as you guide a car, — or, at least, 
attempt it.” 

“But in the end he may come to loss, as I 
may some day if I continue with my reckless 
confidence.” 

“Then I should love him just as well. I 
would only ask that he make himself felt, and 
if forces were too strong against him I would 
only ask that he combat them until one or the 
other should have won. I don’t like to see 


40 


The Destroyers 


both sides conciliatory. It savors too much 
of the fine diplomacy of predatory powers.’’ 

“Then, let us be personal, just for argu- 
ment.” 

“All right; but beware, because I must 
win,” laughing as she took this stand for the 
feminine side of discussion. 

“I am fighting against a band of men who 
have gone out on strike. They are arrayed 
against me for seemingly personal reasons. 
They have acted in restraint of my business. 
My money, my future in the world of indus- 
trialism, is locked in those shafts and the 
other interests I control. Shall I conciliate 
with them, or shall I fight them, armed with 
every means I may employ?” 

“Your case must modify my conditions. I 
meant that both sides must be armed equally, 
though not with the same weapons, perhaps. 
You are fighting against the bread which 
feeds poor women and little children.” 

“You are not in sympathy with my side of 
the situation, then?” hastily. 

“No, no; I did not mean that. Your 
moves all appear to be for a settlement of the 
trouble.” 

“But, suppose that,” before she could go 
further, “seeing that my losses will be too 


The Destroyers 


41 


great if I allow conditions to remain as they 
are at present, suppose I should take up an 
active fight and attempt to operate my mines 
with other workmen?” 

“I think you would be doing right. So 
long as you offered employment and did not 
fight against paying wages to workmen you 
would be doing no more nor less than you 
should in your business. But, would your 
methods be honorable ?” 

The question smote Steele in an unpro- 
tected spot. 

“That would be a question of opinion. 
Were I to bring outside workmen here they 
would, of course, not belong to the union, and 
the union laborers would claim I was unfair 
and dishonest in my methods.” 

“But how would you feel about it? 
Would your own conscience say you were do- 
ing rightly?” 

“Yes, I should feel as if I were right. So 
long as I pay the usual wage scale it matters 
little to me to whom I pay it. All I ask from 
any workman is that he give me the work that 
should be done in the given time. There is 
no personal friendship, or lack of it, between 
the workmen and myself. It is a case of 
business.” 


42 The Destroyers 

“Then I should say you would be justi- 
fied.” 

“But the fight has not yet developed. Sup- 
pose these men should attempt to stop my 
new men from working; suppose that it 
should become necessary to arm them to pro- 
tect them from such attacks as that of last 
night on the Tribune office?” 

“Would you countenance your men to do 
bloodshed?” she asked in a tone of horrified 
surprise, rather drawing away from him. 

“Perhaps; of course, in self-defense.” 

“As long as a man is acting in self-defense 
the law says he is right. But, can a man be 
justified for taking a human life in the sight 
of God? Is not our statute law, man-made, 
and our divine law at variance right here, one 
with the other?” 

Steele was gaining an idea of the breadth 
and depth of thought in this girl which, 
though not favorable to his kind of idea, was, 
at the least satisfactory to him. He realized 
he was talking to no mere specimen of 
femininity, but to a woman who had strength 
of character, a mind of her own which 
thought along the broader lines of humanity. 

“You think, then, that my methods would 
be at fault? Then I am not the sort of man 


The Destroyers 43 

who would do for your ideal, the sort you 
described a few minutes ago.” 

He smiled at her, but in his eyes she saw a 
light which had not been there before. It 
was the light which comes into a fighting 
man’s eyes when he knows his plans and is 
ready to fight. It seemed to her the gaze of a 
man about to go into battle and who expects 
to come out alive — and the victor. 

“You are—” 

“I’m going to fight.” 

“But you will — ” 

“Win? Yes. The Rubicon was crossed 
last night.” 


CHAPTER IV 


Two days later Steele was in his office at an 
earlier hour than usual. A telegram had 
arrived late Wednesday evening: 

“Have three hundred. Special train to- 
morrow. F.” 

Now was the real beginning of the great 
fight. Papers and letters were gone through 
with a rapidity seldom exhibited in this office. 
Jones, stenographer, had seen work done fast 
on several occasions and had seen great piles 
of letters dashed away in a few moments, but 
he never saw such an exhibition of really 
strenuous labor as this. With a bunch of 
letters held in one hand and a pencil poised 
in the other, Steele fired a few words at him, 
waited a moment, made notations on a sheet 
of paper at his right, and turned abruptly to 
hurl a few more terse sentences. Before ten 
o’clock the correspondence, which was usually 
not complete until two, was finished, and not 
a thing was left over for to-morrow. 
Grabbing the mail with one hand, and the 
other reaching for his hat, Jones was happy 


The Destroyers 


45 


enough to be away to the post-office. Steele 
seemed in a perfect frenzy for work, and 
though Jones was red-headed and a nervous 
worker, he did not relish this nerve-smashing 
pace. 

As customary, at four o’clock the whistles 
at each of the mines informed the people that 
it was the time at which the miners would be 
issuing forth, were they attending to the 
active business of bread-earning. The office 
headquarters were at mine No. i. As Steele 
heard the dull, heavy fog-horn blow the 
“knockoff” hour he involuntarily glanced at 
his watch, and smiled as if satisfied. He 
slipped two revolvers out of his desk, stepped 
into the telephone closet, examined them 
carefully, unloading them, snapping the 
triggers, loaded them again and placed them 
in his pockets. Out of the office he stopped 
for a moment on the threshold and surveyed 
the grounds. Here and there was a 
straggler: one a company man hammering at 
a small piece of work; another a poor 
woman picking up small chunks of coal with 
which to cook her breakfast on the morrow; 
a third was a little fellow struggling with all 
his might and main to give impetus to a goat 
hitched to a small cart. The late autumn sun 


46 


The Destroyers 


was beaming down in an effort to gain the 
mastery against the forces of night; the long 
shadows told of its retreat, the yellow rays 
cast back in a show of dying glory. 

Again he looked at his watch. Nursing 
the time-piece absent-mindedly in his hand 
and turning the stem, he gazed straight ahead 
in contemplation. The fight would soon be 
on in earnest. Was he in the right? He was 
not weighing the question as a strictly moral 
one. For the while he let all thought of the 
struggling poor vanish from his mind. To 
him there was something vastly more im- 
portant than the miners and their wives and 
children. When he wondered if he were in 
the right, he simply asked himself if he could 
win. To his mind just now that was the 
right. The all for which he was fighting was 
the right to employ whomsoever he wished, 
to work his mines under conditions that best 
suited him, paying for the labor insofar as 
value was given him for his money. Would 
the strength of the miners be great enough to 
hold against him? Would popular opinion 
be in his favor, and could he so construct his 
fortress that it would always seem to be on 
the defense? 

From the far southward came the faint 


The Destroyers 


47 


note of a whistle. He turned slightly. Con- 
fused sounds, all diverting to a waiting ear, 
came to him. Again he consulted the watch. 
The special was due at 4.30; it was now 4.20. 
He listened with eyes half-closed as if to shut 
out all other noise, standing in tensest concen- 
tration, to catch the faintest whistle of the 
special. Gently at first, then louder, as if 
coming through a cut, came the signal. 

Quietly he stepped down from the office 
door, turned, and made a full circuit of the 
little building. No one was near. The com- 
pany man had gone back to the boiler-room 
or the inner workings of the engine-house ; the 
old woman had filled her basket and 
departed; the boy was up the street to the 
westward, the goat on a trot, the whip whirl- 
ing triumphantly in the air. 

Thinking of Canby at No. 2 he went to the 
phone. 

“Hello; that Canby — been there all after- 
noon? — Stay there till you hear from me. — 
Yes, she’s coming up the hill now; just passed 
the south shaft; ought to be here in a few 
minutes. — Yes, as soon as things are ready.” 

The train came slowly, puffing, up the long 
incline to mine No. i, and halted on the main 
track opposite the office. Not a head was in 


48 


The Destroyers 


sight, most of the curtains were drawn, and 
all doors were closed. Down from the engine 
swung a thick, heavy man. 

“Hello, Farr. Everything all right?” 

“Yes. Better back into that siding?” 
pointing to the sidetrack which led past the 
office into the tower and from there to the 
great slack fields. 

“Yes. Back in and send the engine ahead, 
ril write the O. K.” 

“Better wait until dark before we get them 
off?” asked Farr, after the train had been 
sent into the siding, the engine cut loose, and 
the conductor had taken the receipt from 
Steele and pulled out for the shops at the 
north end of the city. 

“Yes; only an hour more. Everything is 
ready,” again consulting the watch, and 
fingering almost as nervously. 

At dusk Steele and Farr emerged from the 
office where they had gone over the plans in 
whispers for the second time. Farr had been 
acquainted with most of them in New York; 
whatever ideas Steele had since formulated he 
now imparted to the helper. Canby was 
called from the north mine. 

The sun had set and a pale moon was just 
rising. The night could not have been better 


The Destroyers 


49 


for such an undertaking, fraught with much 
danger, as Steele knew ; full of perils through, 
every hour. Farr went to each of the cars, 
knocked several times, spoke in low tones, and 
unlocked the doors. From each of the 
coaches in succession there came a white man, 
followed by troops of burly, black negroes, 
furtively glancing about, hesitating before 
they stepped from the cars. A few harshly 
spoken words from the white lieutenants at 
the doors urged the negroes forth and they 
came down to terra jirma, lined up by the cars 
and waited tremblingly for other orders. 

At a signal from Farr the negroes were 
marched past the train to the field of slack. 
Here they were told what to do and the time 
in which the work needed to be complete 
for the safety of all. The blacks fell to work 
with a will, urged by the white foremen, and 
in a short while tall poles were standing like 
sentries about the mine grounds. Heavy 
planking was fastened to the posts by means 
of wire, the use of nails being feared because 
of noise. Before midnight the barricade was 
complete. It was full ten feet high, the 
planking fitting as neatly as was possible in 
the darkness. From the storeroom by the 
4 


50 


The Destroyers 


office were brought stands of Marlin rifles, 
repeaters, which had been smuggled there in 
boxes marked to contain pick handles and 
other implements, and which were given to 
the sentries for the night. Farr, Canby and 
the other white men placed themselves at 
advantageous positions, prepared for the 
watch until morning. Steele walked to and 
fro in restless watchfulness. 

The night passed quietly, and the first glint 
of light found the camp up and ready for the 
completion of the work. A hundred 
hammers sounded at once as a greeting to the 
morning, a welcome to the changed condi- 
tions, a defi to the union miners of Fenton 
district. 

In half an hour a crowd gathered on the 
hill to the southeast, where lived the post- 
master in his stately home. It knew some- 
thing had been done, and the news traveled 
quickly along the streets. The work was only 
just complete when Brandon of the Tribune 
telephoned to know what was doing. He was 
invited to come and see with his own eyes. 

Brandon lost no time in making the trip. 
Steele told him honestly what had been done, 
saying as little as possible and allowing the 
presence of the negroes and the preparations 


The Destroyers 5 1 

for defense to speak for themselves. 
Brandon understood. 

At eight o’clock an extra Tribune was on 
the street, telling what had taken place during 
the night, and stating that Steele would now 
work his mines despite the opposition of the 
union men. Steele read the edition carefully, 
analytically. Here came the test for popular 
opinion. He felt that the people would fear 
this influx of negroes from the mines of the 
South, for the articles had enlarged to such an 
extent, though truthful enough, as to state 
that the new workmen were ex-convicts from 
Alabama. This would weigh against him. 
Now he must act boldly. The paper would 
surely have been well distributed by this time 
and the miners would be well aware of the 
presence of their enemies. He would take a 
walk through the principal thoroughfare of 
the city, and breakfast at the hotel. 

Unarmed, after informing the others of his 
intention, he started for the business section, 
six blocks away. Nine o’clock found him 
standing at the Federal Building, the first 
stopping-place on the way from the mine. 
His pretext was, of course, to look over his 
mail. Little crowds had gathered about the 
street corners and in front of the stores. 


52 The Destroyers 

Every one was discussing the new conditions. 
He passed the first crowd unnoticed; as he 
approached the next all speech stopped. 
These were business men, men who had stood 
by the miners on previous occasions. As he 
approached he nodded in his formally 
friendly manner and was answered in kind. 
They did not understand. Everything had 
come upon them so suddenly and his presence 
among them had been so startling that they 
could not give to the man the greeting which 
they would otherwise have accorded. 

The next crowd was composed of union 
men who had just heard the news. He passed 
without their uttering a sound, but a moment 
afterward was stormed with hisses and cat- 
calls. The calm was over. , He felt a sudden 
tension in the atmosphere, that peculiar some- 
thing which pervades the senses when danger 
impends. The fourth crowd greeted him 
in the same manner, the hisses and catcalls 
even more distinct. He had traversed a 
single block and was met this way! Into a 
drugstore he called to purchase a cigar, and 
as he came out Spencer met him at the door. 

“Hello, Tom. By George, what is this I 
hear?” 

“It’s depending much on who did the 


The Destroyers 53 

telling, I suppose, Mr. Spencer. How are 
you this morning?” 

“Pretty well. Going this way? Come on 
to the office; I want to talk with you.” 

The news that Steele was in town had 
spread ahead of him. Erect, walking as 
lightly as an Indian and as gracefully, his eyes 
aglow with the excitement, he strode beside 
the old banker, a half-head taller, a perfect 
specimen of American manhood. 

They had almost reached the bank corner 
and had one more, the largest, crowd to pass. 
These were miners. He passed in silence; 
the crowd maintained an attitude of rude 
stoicism, but he shot the corner of his eye in 
their direction as he passed, saw one arm go 
upward, and there came a flying missile. He 
dodged easily and the brickbat went hurtling 
by, missing both. Instantly a cry came from 
a dozen throats and the crowd moved toward 
him with one impulse. Spencer, turning, saw 
the advance, grabbed Steele’s arm and pulled 
him toward the bank. 

The old banker leaped up three steps and 
entered the door, while Steele turned as he 
reached the top; a brick crashed through the 
window to his right, another went through 
the plate glass above, showering the broken 


54 


The Destroyers 


bits upon Spencer. Steele raised his left hand 
in a gesture of command, and the crowd 
halted in its rush. 

“The first man who dares make a, move 
drops in his tracks !” 

He moved one step lower. 

“What do you want?” 

He waited for a reply, or to gather greater 
courage. 

“Everything that has been done you have 
brought on yourselves. Are you ready to 
work? There are jobs open to-morrow 
morning when the whistle blows. I’m in for 
a square deal, but you will have to give me 
one. Now, clear out! I mean what I say, 
and I’ll stand by my words!” 

Hundreds had gathered. The impression 
he made was strong, and instantaneous. 
They did not know how he would stand by 
his words. The crowd dispersed, slowly, 
muttering, and Steele entered the bank. 

He had won. His bluff had not been 
called. 


CHAPTER V 


In his private office Banker Spencer was 
closeted with Steele nearly all the morning, 
where every phase of the difficulty was 
thoroughly discussed. During the fore part 
of the conversation Steele brought up the 
losses to his business interests which would be 
entailed by a continuance of the fight, the 
mines meanwhile lying idle. He showed to 
the banker in the plainest terms that he had 
not brought the trouble on, save by his care of 
the mines. Ropes break, cages are damaged, 
roofs cave in, water overflows and gas pockets 
break loose in other mines; these things had 
happened to the Steele mines. In all 
accidents of such character the fewest possible 
men should be allowed to descend the shafts. 

“You mean to say, then, Tom, that the 
wage scale has no effect on you?” 

“How could it? Didn’t I offer to put these 
men to work a week ago ? Didn’t they refuse 
the offer? Did I say anything of the wage 
scale? Am I not going to pay these negroes 
the union scale when we begin to-morrow?” 

He hurled the questions as from a catapult 


56 The Destroyers 

at the banker, permitting no opportunity for 
reply. 

“You know, Tom, that the great trouble 
to-day is that the matter of the payment of 
wages is placed upon purely economic 
grounds; that political economists, experts in 
sociology, and employers totally eliminate the 
moral element from any discussion of wages 
and labor.” 

Steele, aggressive before, was now on the 
defensive. His keen eyes were boring 
through the banker in an effort to read beyond 
those words. Did he suspect the real cause of 
the trouble? Had he, too, learned of the 
proposed demand for a raise in the wage 
scale, and divined that Steele was acting now 
in anticipation ? 

The old gentleman paused, in his natural 
manner of study, re-adjusted his glasses, and 
went on: 

“Among the expenses of operating a coal 
mine, of conducting a manufacturing plant, 
of running a bank — among the expenses must 
inevitably be found the cost of labor. Com- 
petition is fierce and cruel, very cruel, these 
days. Employers seek to reduce the price of 
products without lessening the profit in 
dollars and cents. To do this they are 


The Destroyers 


57 


tempted to a reduction of wages or, perhaps, 
a refusal to advance them. This, you know, 
my boy, is the chief cause of strikes.” 

“Do you see any evidence that I am 
fighting for a reduction?” 

“Not at all. What I have said must not be 
construed to apply personally.” 

Steele was relieved. Spencer appeared 
perfectly frank in his declaration. But the 
young capitalist wanted to know more. 

“Suppose I should offer work to the union 
men? You have heard me do it. Haven’t I 
made every overture that I should?” 

“Apparently, yes. But you know these 
men will not work with the negroes.” 

“Not work with the negroes ? Doesn’t the 
North cry out for equality? Didn’t the 
fathers of many of these union men fight for 
the negro?” 

“They fought for the Stars and Stripes 
over a united country. But loyalty to one’s 
flag does not demand that each soldier shall 
absorb and transmit to his sons the so-called 
principles flaunted in radical preachments. 
You know as well as I that we of the North 
do not believe in social equality of the races, 
and you further know that in few cases do 
white men and negroes work together. We 


58 


The Destroyers 


do not accept the negro as our moral and 
mental equal. We look upon him as a 
menial, and abhor the inter-racial marriage 
quite as much as do those in the South; in 
fact , I believe, more so. You are not a 
radical. You have been through the South, 
and you learned that the black is treated far 
better there than in the North. No, Tom, 
you may argue as you please ; you may flaunt 
equality in their faces, but your trouble 
begins to-day. The union men will not work 
with the negroes : first, because they are 
negroes, and second, because these aliens do 
not belong to the union, which your union 
men hold must be recognized in your mines 
according to the contract. And, they will do 
all in their power to get your new men out.” 

The conference lessened nothing of Steele’s 
purpose. His plans were made, they were be- 
ing executed, and he would carry every one 
of them to the bitter end. The costs he had 
measured, both for failure and success; but 
he did not propose to fail. 

His way to the hotel was smooth enough; 
no one attempted to stop him; his friends 
spoke kindly. But he caught the covert and 
unfriendly glances of several miners as he 
passed. During the dinner hour everything 


The Destroyers 


59 


was as quiet as might be expected under the 
conditions, with those at the tables discussing 
the situation, and the presence of Steele being 
made known to all the strangers in the hall. 
He felt somewhat self-conscious, but read 
eagerly what the morning papers had to say 
of the world at large and partook of his meal 
as calmly as if there had never been a disturb- 
ance in the labor atmosphere. 

The game he was playing would call for 
every show of courage, every evidence of 
calmness and coolness. His hand was not as 
yet known to the miners ; it would have to be 
held closely from spying eyes. He was in for 
a square deal, but that did not mean that he 
was going to hold his cards above his head 
for all to see. 

At four, having spent the entire afternoon 
in an inspection of the day’s work, and having 
held conferences with Farr and Canby, Steele 
telephoned for his car and swept as gaily out 
from the great wooden barricades as some 
commander from his fort. Everything had 
been done as he wished. His every word had 
been a command and all had been obeyed. 
He felt easier now than at any time during 
the day. The negroes, given courage by the 
absence of trouble, had asked permission to 


6o 


The Destroyers 


go into the business section, which was 
granted. The hour had been fixed at which 
they might depart and that at which they 
were to return; no one would be admitted 
after nine o’clock, thus giving three hours to 
see the sights and to make such purchases as 
their limited exchequers would allow. 

Steele called for Miss Markham, taking 
her for a short ride about the city, never go- 
ing to such distances that he could not be 
reached in a very short time. The atmos- 
phere felt laden with danger, and he liked 
not the quiet which seemed to prevail among 
the miners. At six o’clock they returned. 
Putting the car in the garage he set out from 
his home on foot. The dry goods, clothing 
and notions stores had closed for the day; 
nothing but the groceries, cigar stands, news- 
stands, and saloons offered places, besides the 
drug-stores, for the loafing miners. The 
evening was unusually crisp. The men who 
stood about the streets were those who were 
on the steady lookout for trouble; they be- 
long to a species which may be seen in all 
cities and under all conditions. 

Here and there were couples of negroes — 
they were seeing the town in pairs for the 
sake of safety, a precaution he had ordered 


The Destroyers 


6i 


them to take. He stepped into a drug-store 
to purchase a cigar and to speak a friendly 
word. This was his favorite place for spend- 
ing a few moments each afternoon at the 
close of business hours. He was laughingly 
telling a story to two clerks and several others 
in the store, when interrupted by a shot. 
Every eye sought the door which gave a view 
up the street toward the post-office. A mo- 
ment later another shot followed. Steele 
made for the door, and indistinctly discerned a 
great crowd standing at the Federal Building 
corner. His first impulse was to run to the 
spot, knowing there must be trouble between 
his men and the miners. Instead, he walked 
quietly from the store, crossed the street, and 
proceeded at a business gait in that direction. 

He was less than fifty feet from the corner 
when the men on the left side fell back hur- 
riedly and a yell came from the west of the 
intersecting street. One of this first crowd 
raised a gun and fired. It was the signal of 
battle. Instantly half a hundred rifles and re- 
volvers were pouring out a hail of lead. He 
reached the corner and saw a crowd of his 
negroes stop in their advance, and return the 
fire. For fully two minutes the shooting con- 
tinued from both sides; theh, as by common 


62 


The Destroyers 


consent, each stopped. The white crowd 
broke into a run, and the negroes fell back 
toward the mine. Both sides were on the 
retreat. No one was killed and only one was 
injured — an inevitable innocent, a drummer 
who was drinking at a bar three doors from 
the corner, hit by a bullet which had glanced 
from a curbstone. 

When the negroes fell back Steele fol- 
lowed, and was admitted through the barri- 
cade immediately after the last of the negroes, 
all of whom were being railed at by Farr and 
Canby. 

These two worthies had no excuse to offer. 
They said they knew nothing of the fight 
until it had taken place. They had been on 
the opposite end of the grounds, inspecting 
the building of some huts, and had noticed no 
particularly active interest on the part of the 
negroes. 

The source of the arms was needful of no 
explanation ; they had been distributed among 
the negroes during the day for the purpose of 
protection at the mine in case of attack. 

Steele recognized the view which could now 
be taken of the situation by the public. He 
called Brandon by telephone and asked for 
the kindness of. a statement. Brandon did 


The Destroyers 


63 


not refuse. Steele went to the office, writing 
his statement, to which he was not given 
credit, however. From this office he went to 
the Press. Both papers were issued in the 
morning with a full and complete account of 
the affair, that the public would understand 
how the union miners had attacked the de- 
fenseless negroes simply because they were 
black, perhaps, and how the negroes had re- 
turned for arms. Their second visit to the 
city was not for the purpose of continuing 
trouble, but to get some goods which they had 
purchased and had failed to take with them, 
so closely were they pressed by the striking 
miners. It was clearly shown that most of 
the union men had been drinking heavily dur- 
ing the late afternoon. Besides the news stor- 
ies each of the papers came out editorially in 
strong denunciations of this riotous action on 
the part of the strikers. 

Steele slept none, watching and waiting for 
the' attack on the barricades. It was an anx- 
ious night, every noise outside the barricade 
being interpreted as an advancing horde of 
bloodthirsty men bent upon taking life, upon 
killing every man within the wooden walls. 
Steele’s nerve was strong. Here and there he 
hurried on tiptoe, telling stories and jokes to 


64 


The Destroyers 


break the tension of fear and trembling which 
pervaded the throng of negroes who could or 
would not sleep. In his happiest way he told 
them to retire, not to fear an attack; that if 
any trouble were started the watchers in the 
tower and at the comers of the fortress would 
give the warning. His words availed him 
naught. The fear of the animal was there 
and nothing could shake it off. It was not 
like a fight in the open where the chances 
were more nearly even, but, protected as they 
seemed by the huge walls, they felt as if 
within a cage where defense would be little 
more than useless. No light burned on the 
grounds and the shadowy silhouettes of slowly 
moving figures, restless in their fear, were 
ghost-like. Steele himself, with nerves built 
of steel and a mind which was trained to 
know no fear, shuddered at times and turned 
quickly at the sudden looming of a shadow 
by his side. There was no monotony, for the 
mind had no opportunity to linger long on 
one idea. 

The first rays of an Indian-summer sun 
found the camp as active, if not so excited, as 
the night before. The tension was broken 
by the daylight. The fears of the dark had 
vanished, the physical nature sprung up ready 


The Destroyers 


65 


for battle. But no enemy came. From the 
tower Canby reported little attention being 
paid by those who passed in the streets. 
Steele was not deceived; he knew too well 
how these men had done in former times ; he 
knew it would be a battle of the strong, a fight 
in which only the fittest could survive. So 
far he held the upper hand; his plans had 
been carried out so quickly that no defense 
was offered. He proposed to keep the ag- 
gressive, though appearing, so far as public 
opinion was concerned, to be on the defensive. 

He read the papers early, studied the style 
in which the news stories and editorials were 
written, and was satisfied. At least, he knew, 
public opinion would not favor the opposing 
element. He preferred to have the people 
with him, but if he could not he would not 
allow it to lean toward his enemy. That point 
had to be saved at whatever cost. 

At seven o’clock the whistle blew at No. i, 
and one-third of the negroes went down to 
work; the remainder watched about the bar- 
ricade, permission being given to fifty of them 
to go into the city, if they desired, between the 
hours of ten and two. Three of the white 
men were also instructed to be near and to 
telephone the headquarters in case of trouble. 

5 


66 


The Destroyers 


Saturday was a busy day, as it ever is in 
Fenton, and hundreds of farmers drove into 
the city for barter, others for nothing more 
than the satisfaction of an innate curiosity, 
aroused by the news which had been obtained 
from the papers. It was past the noon hour. 
Horses stood about the hitching posts in the 
square and in the alleys, munching their hay 
and corn; women and children sat upon the 
wagons partaking of the home-prepared 
lunch ; in the rear of groceries sat small gath- 
erings of farmer boys, eating cheese and 
crackers while discussing what they had seen 
and heard, and giving out their sage opinions 
upon the situation. Young presidents and 
president-makers they were, in their first 
school of discursive thought. About the 
square stood farmers of every description, 
many carrying the customary whip, most of 
them drawing on corncob pipes. The same 
subject, the situation in the labor circles of the 
city, held the center of discussion. The news- 
papers had made their impressions upon this 
class. It was, in the majority, in favor of 
Steele, and it lauded his actions far beyond 
what urbanites had done. The farmer is not 
quite so conservative as he is sometimes reck- 
oned. He has become, in these latter days, a 


The Destroyer.^ 


67 


great reader, and, as ever, he is a quiet 
thinker. But, once set in his opifiion, and he 
generally forms one for himself, he is a diffi- 
cult power to attack. Not being hurried in 
any of his processes he gets facts solidly in 
his mind; armed with these he is almost im- 
pregnable. Arguments on abstracts avail 
nothing with him, for his return fire is a state- 
ment of simple fact, gathered from various 
sources, never exaggerated, but strong almost 
to indefensibility within themselves. In every 
crowd of this sort, five or six farmers, there 
will be found one or two who have nothing 
to say. They are gathering facts for use 
against others when a discussion of the same 
subject arises. It is this process which is cus- 
tomary and which makes so well for the pow- 
erful minds of country men and boys. 

It was just past the noon hour, this time of 
dinner and post-prandial discussion, when a 
shot came clear and distinct from the Fed- 
eral Building corner. Two more followed in 
quick succession. The little crowds broke up 
hurriedly, all seeking the place of excitement. 
One of the negroes, a big, burly fellow, as 
black as the proverbial ace of spades, had 
been suspected by an officer of carrying a 
weapon concealed. Thus accused, he had 


68 


The Destroyers 


started to run down Locust street, the main 
thoroughfare to that by which he could ap- 
proach the mine. The policeman fired at the 
fleeing negro, and missed ; and he fired twice 
more with no better effect. Though none of 
the shots hit him, the negro halted, fearfully, 
and waited for his arrest. Those in the stores 
crowded to the walks to see the excitement, 
while others came rushing from the side 
streets. Farmers, business men, union miners 
and negroes made up the trailing crowd fol- 
lowing the policeman and his prisoner to the 
jail. All were excited. An outbreak had 
been expected, and now that it had come the 
animal instinct for the fray was whetted; 
there was a prevailing eagerness for a fight. 
Miners angrily rushed near to the policeman 
and his captive, hurling small missiles, and 
hooting and jeering at the negro. The other 
negroes gradually fell back and returned to 
the mine. 

Reaching the yard surrounding the jail the 
captive negro made a sudden leap for free- 
dom, and, since he had gone thus far with 
so much docility, the clutch which Officer Mc- 
Carron had on him was somewhat loosened, 
making the attempt successful. The negro 
made a quick turn to the left, and started for 


The Destroyers 


69 


the alley. The crowd stood for a moment 
in a daze, then a howl went up, and the chase 
was on. Down the alley, dodging farmers’ 
wagons and lighter vehicles, picking his hur- 
ried way across muddy puddles and piles of 
stone, ran the negro until he reached Second 
street, where he turned toward the main thor- 
oughfare, his evident plan being to make back 
to the mine. At Locust street he turned 
toward the south. Three officers had joined 
in the chase, and as the negro reached a point 
fifty yards along Locust street the foremost, 
a deputy sheriff, arrived at the corner and 
opened fire, three shots missing the fleeing 
black as onward he sped, passing the body of 
a white man lying in front of a saloon. At 
the next corner he met the wing of the enemy. 
Some of the miners, after the dash for free- 
dom, instead of following down the alley, had 
hurried back to Locust street, expecting to 
arrive there to catch the fugitive on his re- 
turn to the barricade. Their calculations 
were well made. As the negro came toward 
them at full speed and started to cross diagon- 
ally, some one fired. A dozen shots followed 
in close succession, and the negro fell. Not 
a movement did he make after going to the 


70 


The Destroyers 


ground, yet a fusillade was deliberately aimed 
at him as he lay. 

When the unfortunate was picked up he 
was literally shot to pieces; not less than 
twenty bullets had gone into his body. 

In front of a saloon lay the dead body of 
Andrew Poetz ; a bullet hole in the forehead 
told the silent story of the innocent bystander. 

In Dr. Frazier’s office, overlooking the 
spot where the negro had fallen, Steele sat 
at the window surveying the scene. His posi- 
tion was plain to him. The miners had again 
placed themselves in the aggressive, while his 
own forces were still defensive. The news- 
papers would tell the story to the people. 
The fight was going his way. Even the un- 
expected had turned in his favor, and public 
opinion would certainly be stronger than be- 
fore. 


CHAPTER VI 


All day Sunday Steele sat in his room at 
the stately manse on the hill, a monument 
which the elder Steele had builded for him- 
self, his wife, and his son several years ago, 
when he had hoped that to it and to his par- 
ents his boy might come when the college 
course had been completed. Thomas, not by 
any means a wayward son, but a boy in whom 
the spirit of the nomad had been born, had not 
come back; he had essayed to see the world. 
The mother and wife passed away while he 
was where his father knew not. He came to 
Fenton, still in the spirit of the roamer, with 
a view to seeing something which he had not 
yet seen in America, and had remained be- 
neath the parental roof, a son, chum, and co- 
worker with his father. The interests had 
fallen to him but a short year afterward. 

Papers were scattered on every side. The 
entire day, almost, had been consumed in a 
hungry search for facts and figures about the 
business before he had assumed sole charge. 
Newspaper clippings about former industrial 
troubles found interest for him, and letters. 


72 


The Destroyers 


too, from men who had been or were leaders 
in this and other States in the industrial and 
political worlds. Ever and anon, though, a 
face arose from the space between his eyes 
and his work, a face that smiled and beck- 
oned to him to be up and away from the la- 
bors of the day. Since Steele’s coming to 
Fenton, Edith had been the first who had at- 
tracted anything more than the slightest at- 
tention from him. Business cares had been 
his excuse for not oftener going out, though 
he had attended several functions, chiefly for 
reasons other than the hollow pleasure 
therein. He made it a business to attend 
those functions in which he would be thrown 
with the political leaders of the county. 
Whether there were several young ladies who 
would be pleased to have him call, and even 
to pay little attentions, he little thought. Fen- 
ton is possessed of many of the prettiest, most 
highly cultured and entertaining young ladies 
in the State; in fact, Fenton is excellently 
well known in this respect, but none had ever 
appealed to Steele. There was a stiffness 
about most of them, a formality, which he 
did not fancy, nomad, roamer, bohemian that 
he was. 

Here lay the difference. Edith was a fine 


The Destroyers 


73 


companion; from the first she had seemed 
to accord to his ideas, yet being at variance 
just enough to precipitate interesting discus- 
sions in which each had learned much respect 
for the opinions of the other. She liked the 
sport of autoing, delighted at spins on the 
river, and was a lover of the saddle. Her 
love of scenery was akin to his; and both 
had gone to Nature where they might com- 
mune with her — and with each other. The 
woodland had the same call for each; the 
birds sang the same old songs, the flowers 
nodded to each the same sweet welcome, and 
the zephyrs murmured their morning and 
evening melodies through the treetops. The 
great blue arch of heaven, dotted with its 
myriad stars, twinkling and blinking, told in 
silence to each of them the same story of the 
greatness of the Almighty, and taught to each 
the same fear and love for Him who rules 
the universe. 

In the affairs of everyday life she was more 
than commonplace. She was widely posted 
on the current events of the time; nothing of 
national or international import escaped her 
eye, and she was, most peculiar thing, a reader 
of the editorial. Had she been a man Steele’s 
opinion of her would have been worth the 


74 


The Destroyers 


having; as a woman it was still greater. He 
had conceived, in his dream hours, days and 
days ago, while roaming and wandering, of 
one time knowing a woman who could con- 
verse with him on the topics of most interest 
to the man of broad ideas. He had pictured 
having at his side a companion who would 
love the things he loved so well; of having 
one who could boat and fish, who could ride, 
who could love Nature in all her forms; a 
companion who could talk of literature and 
literary men, who could read the classics with 
intelligence and who had, beyond this, some 
idea of what the world was doing. For a 
companion he had wanted a sweetheart, chum 
and helpmeet. This he had dreamed, and 
then had rudely torn away’ the airy castles in 
another rush of politics and business. 

Now, here she was in the flesh ! 

But to the strike. The day was used in 
studying out the situation and in formulating 
plans. Martial law must be declared. The 
present control would not be sufficient; it 
would not be strong enough to check future 
attacks of the miners. It was a difficult prob- 
lem to solve, and must be solved at once. 

Farr was called into the office at an early 
hour Monday morning, and a conference 


The Destroyers 


75 


was held at which Steele explained his new 
plans in full and how best they be carried out. 
The whistle blew for work at the appointed 
time, and a force of negroes went down the 
shaft. The remainder were given leave to go 
in squads about the city on pleasure or busi- 
ness as the wish might be. 

At nine o’clock most of the alien blacks had 
gone into the business portion of the city, 
leaving but a few to act as guards. Three 
white men were watching for any eventuality. 
Thus it was not with surprise that Steele re- 
ceived a message from one of the watchers 
an hour later that he should come post-haste 
to the city. Trouble had started. Whether 
he arrived soon or late is a matter of opinion ; 
suffice it to say that the trouble had much en- 
larged since the message. One of the negroes, 
in going into a grocery, turned for a moment 
to look up the street and did not observe the 
approach of a woman; he ran into her with 
considerable force, jostling from her arms a 
bag of eggs. Immediately one of the union 
miners, who were stationed in front of all the 
stores along the principal streets, made an at- 
tack upon the luckless negro, first using lan- 
guage which was unseemly in his attitude of 
gallantry. The blow was artfully dodged 


76 


The Destroyers 


and the negro knocked the miner from his 
feet. Miners came running to the scene and 
crowded on the negro, who, in turn, was mak- 
ing the best defense possible; other negroes 
joined in the fight, which had now become a 
melee. Two policemen were trying to restore 
quiet and to arrest the leaders, but success 
was not attending their efforts when Steele 
arrived. Seizing a club from the hand of one 
of the preservers of the peace, he went at the 
fighting, yelling mob. Four sturdy miners 
were laid out with four quick swings of the 
weapon. Just at this juncture, as is often the 
case, several more policemen came to the 
scene, the mob fell back, and one miner was 
placed under arrest. 

Back at the mine the story was told, and 
each of them, Steele and Farr, laughed as 
merrily as if it were only a game. In fact, 
it was a game, a larger game than the people 
knew, a game where Steele and Farr knew the 
cards they were playing, for they had stacked 
the deal. The two malcontents, the new 
Pennsylvania men among the miners, had 
done their work well. They had begun the 
trouble and then had quietly taken themselves 
away. 

The next move was before them. A few 


The Destroyers 


77 


moments before two of the afternoon, Farr 
sent two negroes into the tower to shift cars 
on the upper tracks. A while later sounded 
the crack of a gun from the hill to the right. 
Steele was watching that point with a strong 
glass. Another shot and a third came from 
the hill. The negroes in the tower dodged 
behind the cars in time to shudder at the im- 
pact of a dozen bullets on the heavy wood. 
The call had been close. For five minutes 
the firing continued without answer from the 
mine, and then ceased. Farr and Canby hur- 
ried to the tower with rifles. The former 
gave orders not to kill, but at the resumption 
of the firing to aim at a point on the hill just 
above. Stepping into the open he drew their 
fire and gave his command to Canby. Crack ! 
came the guns on the hill, and the bullets spat 
angrily against the cars. Immediately a fusil- 
lade was poured at the attacking party, and 
the firing on the hillside stopped, the miners 
falling back. 

Enough had been done — for this day. 
Calling the mayor by telephone, Steele made 
an engagement to meet him at once in his 
office in the city hall. Here he was closeted 
with the executive for more than an hour. 
Another hour with the sheriff was spent later 


78 


The Destroyers 


in the afternoon. Both officials agreed that 
the situation was beyond local control. At 
once the Governor was requested by all three 
to send troops, and a reply was received just 
at nightfall that six companies would be sent 
at once, and that the city should be placed 
under martial law for an indefinite period. 

The run of the cards was good. 

In the evening Steele presented himself at 
the Spencer home. The old gentleman an- 
nounced that Miss Markham would see him 
in a few moments, and in the mean time they 
would have a private talk in the library. 
Here they went over the situation, Spencer 
never evidencing knowledge of a motive 
power behind it all. His conversation showed 
plainly to Steele that the banker suspected 
nothing ulterior and simply looked upon the 
matter as an economic one. Remedies he 
sought and suggested, to each of which Steele 
answered, explaining that settlements along 
the lines proposed were completely out of the 
question. Fairly and justly, from his point 
of view, he went over the affair, showing 
what ill effects any conciliation would have 
upon the future, that the fight was not begun 
by him, and that he miist win overwhelm- 
ingly or lose all chance of operating his inter- 


The Destroyers 


79 


ests successfully after peace was declared; 
when the miners were willing to state their 
grievances he would gladly listen and with 
an honest ear; his mines were being operated 
according to his best understanding of the 
laws; they were the best-appointed collieries 
in the State, and the vein of coal was undoubt- 
edly the thickest ; the distance from the mar- 
kets, of course, demanded that he pay a less 
price for work than some mines in more fa- 
vored districts; yet, he was willing to ad- 
vance the price one or two cents, on contract, 
if this was what the men desired. The older 
man brought up the question of union labor 
with Steele and it was artfully evaded. It 
was a phase of the greater subject which he 
did not care to discuss just yet. 

This evening he was more interesting with 
Miss Markham, more animated than he had 
appeared on former occasions. She was meet- 
ing another side of this problematical man. 
Eloquently he described the old days at col- 
lege, the gridiron battles of the blue and the 
crimson, and against the orange and black of 
Princeton. She was in thorough sympathy. 
He told of the great run of Canby when he 
carried the ball from Eli’s five-yard line to 
the Tiger goal, breaking through the line only 


8o 


The Destroyers 


a minute before the last whistle. In his de- 
scriptions she saw again the great crowds 
gathered about the field watching this titanic 
contest of youthful giants in the fulness of 
their strength, battling for nothing but the 
honor and glory of the colors. She could 
hear the shrill sound of the whistle, hear the 
impact of the rush as the giant fullback 
dashed with dreadful force straight at the 
foe ; could see the teams struggling back and 
forth across the white lines, gaining and los- 
ing, fighting nobly every inch of ground. 

Then came the after days. He told her of 
his roaming trips about the country, studying 
the conditions of the breadwinner. Little in- 
cidents, some amusing, others with a touch of 
sadness, all of life, yet none commonplace — 
these he told her, heightening the glow of 
each with just that tinge of color which makes 
for interest. Customs of all parts of the 
country, how the people live and how society 
conducts itself, descriptions apt and accurate 
of both halves he gave her with such natural 
eloquence that she marveled. Could he really 
have seen and heard all this? Could he know 
by experience all that he was telling her? 
Naturally a doubter of many things, as all 
persons are^ outside the pale of her experi- 


The Destroyers 


ence and understanding, things foreign even 
to her imagination, she questioned the truth 
of his stories, yet dared not express the doubt. 

As he continued in his narrative she could 
not but believe, as he related incidents of 
which she had heard or read. These alone 
gave foundation for belief. 

“Why are you here, if you are such a lover 
of the nomad life? Why don’t you rid your- 
self of your interests and travel?” 

“Why should I travel any more? I know 
it lends broadness to the mind, gives strength 
to the character ; but can’t you realize that I 
am not a mere loafer by nature? Can’t you 
see that this work is my happiness? I have 
no one to care for, no one to think of espe- 
cially, except myself. I am alone in a world 
that is fighting against everybody and every- 
thing that will not fight back. There 
is competition everywhere. The very life of 
a man is fought by his fellow-men, and he 
must fight back if he expects to live and pros- 
per. Work is my pleasure. I do not care for 
the money, because I have enough already to 
keep me the rest of my days. But there would 
be no real pleasure, no happiness, unless I 
were battling against some other force. I 


82 


The Destroyers 


like to fight. My father taught me when a 
youngster to hold my own with my play- 
mates ; taught me to be ready to fight for my 
rights whenever assailed. I have never for- 
gotten that teaching. Through my school- 
days I was a fighter, in the classroom and out 
of it. I stood at the head of my classes be- 
cause I could not bear to have some other 
fellow look at me in scorn and contempt. I 
would stay up all night to get my lessons and 
then I’d whale him the next day so he would 
not forget it for a week. I was always first 
in the races because I trained myself to win. 
I have spent hours in practice in our big back 
yard, and when the field day came I was al- 
ways the best prepared. It was the same in 
college. I have carried the battling idea 
through my life. I am not aggressive always, 
but I will not refuse a challenge to fight. I 
love the zest of it.” 

“And if, some day, you lose?” 

“On that day I shall begin preparing for 
the next fight, and if I lose that I shall fight 
again.” 

“Suppose you lose all?” 

His animation shone brightly in his eyes, 
his features were even stronger than when in 
repose; his mask was off, his expression un- 


The Destroyers 


83 


guarded, and, leaning forward, with natural 
interest, she watched the play across his face, 
and with this last suggestion saw his teeth 
and lips tighten for a moment, then a slight 
closing of the eyes, and the faintest smile. 

“I never expect to fail. There is no 
strength so great as confidence in one’s self, 
and I always go in to win.” 

“And, if the odds are against you?” 

“That is only in front, and only for a time. 
There are still two wings and the rear re- 
maining. A good general knows better where 
he is going to attack than does his enemy.” 

“Would you fight before the enemy is 
ready — hit the other fellow while he is taking 
off his coat?” 

He had been gazing for a moment across 
the room at a pattern in the floor mosaic, un- 
consciously calculating on its regularity of 
form ; but now turned his eyes quickly to dis- 
cover what this question meant. 

“That is not a fair question, do you think? 
Why not make it resemble battle entirely and 
ask if I would begin fighting before a declara- 
tion of war?” 

“Very well, if the homeliness of my figure 
isn’t fair. But I take exception, as a lawyer 


84 The Destroyers 

does, and I may repeat my question. Now 
answer yours.” 

“No, I would not fight until the enemy 
was warned, but I would make every possible 
preparation in advance, if I knew there was 
to be a fight. My plans of battle, attack and 
defense, would be laid out as thoroughly as 
time and my understanding of the ground 
would permit. I would plan as did the Jap- 
anese against the Russians several years ago 
for every battle to be fought my way; and 
my advance preparation, if my forces were 
strong enough, would force this upon the 
enemy.” 

“You should have been a soldier.” 

“I am; every business man of great inter- 
ests is, in a way. Even that for which we 
fight is no different from the days of Caesar. 
Acquisition of property is one of the aims of 
modern life.” 

“Isn’t that dreadfully sordid? Can you 
believe, really, that the aim of life to-day 
with us is any different from that of the sim- 
ple herd-tender among the hills and dales, 
who lives close to nature, fears and loves but 
one God, is tender to all animals, and sees the 
rare beauty in the daisy? — who one day 


The Destroyers 8 5 

meets his mate and loVes her with his whole 
soul — a simple, natural life?” 

“Your picture is ideal, — in fact, ideally so. 
Country life and customs are not what they 
once were. To-day you do not see a smiling 
landscape of Nature’s making. The country 
folk are not ignorant of the complexity of 
life in the city. They themselves have be- 
come more complex, and about their homes 
have grown the fruits and vines of modern 
life. They love the taste of the fruit, the 
flower of the vine.” 

“I wonder if you understand me.” She 
turned her head to one side, smilingly looking 
up at him with a pretty, questioning glance. 

“Perhaps?” the rising inflection bade her 
proceed. 

“The crux of the whole situation is big 
business, Mr. Steele. Sooner or later this big 
business, this great battle for acquisition of 
property as you call it, forces a man into cor- 
ruption. As he gains more he desires more. 
The means of gaining matter less to him each 
day. If the honest, legitimate methods do 
not make sufficient returns to satisfy his glut- 
tony, and they rarely do, he adopts measures 
less likely to stand consistent with law, either 
human or divine, but which are more produc- 


86 


The Destroyers 


tive. Of what use is all this rush toward a 
goal which perhaps does not exist? Is there 
any more felicity among us than among what 
are called barbarians? Isn’t there some fruit 
whose taste is better than the apples of 
Sodom?” 

“You are pessimistic, Miss Markham. I 
am a member of the ‘big business,’ yet my 
life is enjoyable; it is not so complex — ” 

“There you are wrong. Your conclusion 
is about to be at fault because you are choos- 
ing imperfect premises.” 

“Well?” 

“Compared with yesterday or the day be- 
fore your life may be more enjoyable to-day 
for various reasons. Perhaps it is not so com- 
plex as that of the Wall street money kings. 
But, can’t you live more simply? Can’t you 
conduct your business without resorting to the 
arbitrament of industrial war? Can’t you 
make a reasonable profit and allow your em- 
ployees better conditions of life? Can’t you 
rid yourself of this love of sordid commer- 
cialism, and find more enjoyment in a simpler 
existence?” 

“In one way you are right. But you must 
remember. Miss Markham, that as a mem- 
ber of society I must do my part- toward its 


The Destroyers 


87 


upbuilding. Great progress was not made un- 
til men conceived the idea of aggregating cap- 
ital, of conducting business on a more com- 
prehensive scale. At the same time laborers 
united for the betterment of their condition. 
The battles fought between labor and capital 
have so far produced the onward and upward 
movement of society. I belong to the capital- 
ist class; if I conduct my business successfully 
I am a link in the strong economic chain 
whose increased power pulls society steadily 
upward. The more perfectly do I form my 
link the stronger do I make the chain.” 

“You make a great display of abstruseness. 
If you were to continue along that line you 
would elaborate theories and lay down pos- 
tulates until you would become positively con- 
fusing instead of enlightening. I take it that 
for the greater number of men our vaunted 
civilization means office drudgery, slavery to 
machines and so-called time-saving apparatus, 
the mockery of it all being that time is saved 
merely to be applied to doing more work. 
The routine life of most men resembles the 
pacing of a caged beast behind the bars. 
Those who are apparently the freest are 
caught in the whirl of large affairs and get no 
rest. Itds a race to see who can do the most 


88 


The Destroyers 


before his nerves give away. Stop before it is 
too late, Mr. Steele. Come back and live the 
natural life. There is a finer, subtler side of 
society which needs development. Be an ex- 
ponent in a new progress, as old as time. 
Teach the world to love you and respect you 
and revere you, not for the power which you 
wield as a financial and political warrior, but 
for the simplicity of your manhood.” 


CHAPTER VII 


On Tuesday the Governor sent two special 
trains into Fenton, one bearing two, the other 
three, companies of militia under Colonel 
Mellett. The Colonel had seen service in the 
West during the latter days of Indian fight- 
ing, and in the Philippines, and was a stickler 
for discipline. His command was composed 
of recruits from every calling in life, all anx- 
ious to show this city of Fenton that it must 
settle down, or up, to the correct standard of 
civilization. 

Since early morning there had been a light 
drizzle of rain, just enough to make a slushy 
swamp of the camp-ground in the northern 
part of the city. 

Both trains arrived at the same time, one 
coming from the north, the other from the 
west. Despite the rain, which now poured 
steadily, there were hundreds gathered in and 
about the depot as the soldier boys proudly 
stepped from the trains and formed in fours 
for the march to camp. Evidently the com- 
panies had not been fully prepared for such 
an emergency, as no arms were borne. The 


90 


The Destroyers 


cases of rifles came on the train from the 
west and were to be unloaded, opened, and 
unpacked before the military could be in full 
preparedness for duty. Old Colonel Mellett 
had planned that camp should first be pitched 
and there his men given their arms later. But 
he changed before the men had disembarked, 
for rio assignable reason; at least, he vouch- 
safed none. This sudden change of plan, 
which quickly became noised about, had just 
the effect which may be expected. The young 
fellows in the command had heard rumors of 
the worst description, how the city of Fenton 
was run wild with riot, men shot down on 
every hand, the lawless element in full and 
complete control. To these rumors came no 
denials during the trip, and the most natural 
thing was to believe. They also recalled pre- 
vious strikes in this and other States, and 
they knew that the military had always been 
called into service when the opposing ranks 
were busy firing at each other and any one 
else who happened to come within range. 
Now that the Colonel had taken the notion to 
arm his men they stood about the platform, 
in rank but at rest, quaking with the fear that 
a gang of lawless fiends would suddenly rush 
upon them and shoot them down in cold 


The Destroyers 


91 


blood. The man who has never served at 
such a time as this cannot quite comprehend 
the feelings with which the soldier boy is 
filled. Nothing so much as the presence of 
smiling girls who braved the rain to see the 
boys arrive, peeping out from beneath their 
dripping umbrellas, standing at the doors and 
windows of the depot, caused the braves to 
put down whatever fear they felt and appear 
courageous, unconcerned, military. 

At last the crack of the hammer ceased and 
the lieutenant reported from the baggage- 
room that the rifles were ready for distribu- 
tion. A sigh of relief passed down the lines 
of waiting soldiery. Under the personal and 
highly official supervision of Colonel Mellett 
the lines moved slowly forward, each man 
was given a rifle and one hundred rounds of 
ammunition, being brought to a halt at the 
north end of the platform. In the mean time, 
wagons were loading with tents and boxes on 
the farther side of the trains. These now 
moved away slowly, followed on the side- 
walks by the five companies of infantry, the 
crowd of reception bringing up a gay and 
chattering rear, in spite of the rainy, murky 
weather. 

Not until late afternoon was camp entirely 


92 


The Destroyers 


ready, and it was a cheerless, cold, rain- 
drenched four hundred (for the companies 
were not full) who settled in their tents that 
night to get a well-earned rest. During the 
night the famous Battery B, one which had 
been seasoned by duty on three previous occa- 
sions of labor troubles, though under a new 
commander, arrived on a special. The 
weather had settled somewhat, and when the 
camp awoke in the morning it was surprised 
to find itself grown much larger, for Battery 
B had wasted no time — upon its arrival it 
had pitched its avenue of tents, placed its field- 
pieces in position, and gone to rest for the few 
hours remaining before first call. 

All Fenton was awake early and prepared 
for eventualities. To be sure, as is ever the 
case, the military was the observed of all ob- 
servers ; more especially since each side waited 
to see in what direction the soldier friendship 
would lean. About the middle of the morn- 
ing the Steele interests scored the first point, 
and this through the agency of Canby. He 
went to the camp at the behest of Steele to 
see what, if anything, was doing. He ap- 
plied at the outer guard for permission to 
speak with the officer of the day. There fol- 
lowed the usual display of red tape, gone 


The Destroyers 


93 


through wit^h in this case clumsily because of 
the lack of practice. By much persistence 
and insistence he was allowed through the 
lines, and escorted by an exceedingly military 
sergeant to the tent of the officer of the day. 
Canby had been trying, during the long wait, 
to trump up his excuse for coming. After 
much mental discipline he had patched to- 
gether a pretty speech of welcome in behalf 
of Operator Steele; he felt that this would 
be the most consistent and the best plan to 
follow, taking all circumstances into consid- 
eration. 

In his period of roaming Canby had met 
many old friends, friends of the other days, 
and so he had come to believe that the world 
was not so extremely large, after all. Of a 
sudden, when he had least expected anything 
to happen, he had been called all the way 
from Paris to this strike-beridden city. 
Events had followed in quick succession, and 
he had had no time to philosophize, to par- 
ticularize. With such an organization as his, 
to philosophize, to particularize, and to or- 
ganize were absolutely essential to an equilib- 
rium of mentality. How could a man be 
entirely prepared for the future sequence ot 
events if he had not explained to himself, to a 


94 


The Destroyers 


certain degree of satisfaction, the whyfores 
and reasons for those that had passed? 

Down the avenue he went, a head taller 
than the sergeant, erect and graceful, such a 
soldierly-appearing man that he became the 
cynosure of soldier eyes as he marched in per- 
fect step with his escort. But, alas! that 
gentleman was not destined to introduce the 
first civilian camp visitor to the officer of the 
day. Fate had failed him and at the same 
moment knocked away the support of calm 
reserve which usually held Canby upright 
under whatever conditions. They had ap- 
proached close to headquarters when a six- 
foot, broad-shouldered, stern-faced man, 
coatless, wearing the wide-brimmed regula- 
tion hat in jaunty fashion, a red bandana tied 
about his neck, filled the entrance of the tent, 
and answered the salute of the sergeant. 

“Captain — ” 

“Phil Canby, by all that’s holy!” 

“The Devil! Jack—” 

“You’re wrong, Phil. Pm only camping 
on his trail.” 

A hundred pairs of eyes gazing down the 
street saw two stalwarts grasp hands, look 
straight into each other’s eyes for a long mo- 
rnent, and then embrace as lovingly as ever 


The Destroyers 


95 


lovers do. Old Colonel Mellett stepped into 
the opening and saw two strong men holding 
hands while tears coursed down their cheeks. 
Neither dared speak, but smiled through his 
tears and knew the other one was glad. It 
was to Phil that courage first returned, or, 
perhaps, it was fear of breaking down. 

“The Seville this afternoon for dinner — at 
one o’clock?” 

“I’ll be there, Phil,” and with a parting 
nod Canby wheeled and walked back toward 
the line with rapid strides. Jack Kinney! 
Dear old Jack! Roommate, classmate, 
teammate, chum, staunch friend and strong- 
est rival in the old days ! 

It is not to be wondered that every one in 
the crowded dining hall of the Seville ceased 
speaking and turned to look as three men en- 
tered and were escorted to their table in the 
corner, a table decorated prettily with flowers, 
silver and cut glass, above all hanging the 
handsome blue pennant of Yale. The trio 
reached their places, stood for a moment, 
raised their glasses silently, clinked them in 
toast, and drank to “Friendship.” 

It was a dinner never to be forgotten. 
Three college “grads” together for the first 
time since commencement, not telling what 


The Destroyers 


96 

they had done, what they had accomplished 
in life, but all recounting, with exclamations 
and hearty laughter, tales and scenes of the 
past, showing pictures colored richly by the 
artist brush of time. 

During the long afternoon the three re- 
clined lazily in big, comfortable cane rockers 
on the wide veranda, shaded from the sun by 
a great awning. Steele and Canby each told 
their stories, adding here and there the little 
touches they knew would interest most. Jack, 
big-hearted, happy-go-lucky Jack, had taken 
to the newspaper profession and drifted to 
every quarter of the country. His study of 
people and places had not been made with 
such scientific care as had Steele’s, yet his 
knowledge of human nature in all circum- 
stances and under varied and varying condi- 
tions was nearly, if not quite, as extensive. 
Kinney had gone through college much on 
his own money; that is, money he had earned 
by his own hand. Less fortunate than his 
comrades, his parents had passed out of this 
life while he was yet at high school, leaving 
him nothing more than a $2,000 insurance 
policy and a home with his aunt, a maiden 
sister of his mother, so long as he desired it. 
By dint of hard work he made and saved suf- 


The Destroyers 


97 


ficient for his first year; then gained scholar- 
ships of several hundred dollars, coached 
fellow-students and wrote for two newspapers 
about the college teams. Just a plain, jolly 
sort of fellow, he had ranked in popularity 
with Steele, the son of a millionaire. So soon 
as commencement was over he had allied him- 
self with the newspaper profession as a re- 
porter on a Chicago daily. From this he be- 
came copy reader and later was night city edi- 
tor of the same paper. Leaving Chicago as 
a special writer, he found much, or rather 
comfortable, remuneration in the work, and 
this, added to the excitement and other fasci- 
nations, had determined his future. Lately 
he had settled in the capital as city editor of 
the State organ, and had been elected to the 
captaincy of Battery B. 

“What will be the plan in this city. Jack?” 
asked Phil as they finished the narratives and 
it became evident that they progressed as far 
as the present situation. 

“That is a difficult question to answer, 
Canby. I cannot speak for any one but my- 
self, and I am not here as Jack Kinney, but as 
the captain of Battery B, acting under or- 
ders.” 


7 


98 The Destroyers 

“Don’t you know anything on the inside?” 
persisted Phil. 

“No; but it appears to me that Tom Steele 
has a clutch on these fellows’ throats, and if 
I haven’t jumbled my recollections Tom 
Steele will tighten that clutch until it chokes 
somebody if somebody doesn’t yell ‘enough,’ 
or somebody else doesn’t pull him off. That 
about it, Tom?” 

Steele’s expression was hidden entirely by 
a faint smile as he casually blew smoke rings 
above his head. He was in a revery, but 
quickly recovered. 

“I guess you are entitled to your opinion. 
Jack. You would not be here, though, if it 
were not for me.” 

“Humph. As suggestive as ever, Tom. 
Meant that as a sort of clarifier, eh?” and 
Kinney laughed knowingly. 

When no reply was forthcoming, it was 
understood that this discussion was at an end, 
too, and gradually they drifted into relating 
more tales of more experiences since college 
days. 

Far into the afternoon these tales led. 
Kinney, just the same old Kinney, with the 
addition of a few years’ experience stacked 
lightly on his shoulders, did not surprise 


The Destroyers 


99 


Steele, who had been studying him during the 
afternoon, when he passed a questioning re- 
mark about the social functions of the city. 

“You are aching to be out among the fair 
ones?” 

“Well, Tom, old man, a fellow ought to 
enjoy the company of women as much as his 
business will permit. I have trotted all about 
this American Eden and have seen some 
mighty rough places ; I have spent weeks in 
the saddle on the plains and in mining camps, 
among the worst breeds of human mongrels 
sometimes, and yet I am able to look half- 
decent in a spike-tail. I can hold my own at 
the light fantastic, and, if I am not fearfully 
mistaken, I can still pay a pretty compliment. 
It’s all from enjoying a woman’s company 
when the opportunity offered.” 

“Those things are natural gifts to you. 
Jack,” broke in Canby. 

“Natural, the Devil! You know as well 
as I, Phil, that you were as awkward as a 
Missouri brayer when you were a freshie. 
It’s constant practice, no less in the parlor 
and the ballroom than at driving a nail. A 
fellow cannot expect to retain gentlemanly 
ways unless he is forced to practice them in 
the presence of women.” 

LOfC. 


100 


The Destroyers 


“You just wish the practice then?” smiled 
Steele amusedly. 

“Any old reason you wish, Tom. Look 
here, have you two fellows been conspiring 
against me? I am going to enjoy myself 
while I am here. In order to do it in my own 
way I shall have to be introduced. If you 
fellows wish the honor, now is your chance. 
If you do not — well. I’ll get around all 
right.” 

This speech was accentuated by his rising 
and consulting his watch. 

“Four-thirty; I am due in camp at five, 
before the guard mount.” 

“Jack, if you are free to-morrow evening, I 
shall take you out. Let me know in the morn- 
ing.” 

To this Kinney assented, shook hands, and 
strode away to camp. 

“If it were not for this blooming strike we 
could have a great time here this winter, don’t 
you think, Tom?” 

They had reseated themselves to await the 
evening meal. 

“It hasn’t occurred to you, I suppose, that 
if it were not for this blooming strike we three 
fellows would not be together, just as I told 
Jack.” 


The Destroyers loi 

“That’s right, Tom, but you know what I 
mean.” 

“And I second the notion heartily enough. 
But what under the sun is to keep us from 
having a good time, anyhow? The militia 
will be here all winter and the mines will 
work. We will be protected by the soldiers, 
and can go right along with the good times.” 

“By the way, old man,” after a pause, 
“you have not been in the habit of going out 
much here. What is the matter?” 

“I am expecting to find a little time for so- 
cial development this winter, now that condi- 
tions are settling. Before this I have been too 
busy to think of light amusements.” 

“A pretty girl changes a fellow wonder- 
fully, doesn’t she?” 

“For better or worse, always. It is pecu- 
liar that I have not thought more of the femi- 
nine side of life since I have been here.” 

“Judging from what I knew of you in the 
old days, I should say it was dog-goned pecu- 
liar. You are changed all through, old man. 
There are some things about you now that I 
don’t like as well as the things they sup- 
planted. You are too businesslike; you hurl 
yourself into this affair and use too much en- 
ergy at the consummation of a single idea. 


102 


The Destroyers 


You are working too hard; you are taking 
life too seriously; you are breaking down 
under the pressure of this strenuous living, 
and you’ll soon be old — long before your 
time. You used to enjoy life at every angle, 
and now your view is from squarely in front, 
without a single glimpse to the side.” 

“You are right, in a way, Phil, but you 
cannot see how I have viewed life. You do 
not know what I have thought and seen and 
felt and experienced. I have seen life at more 
different angles than you, than most fellows 
of my age. At last I wanted just to get this 
square front view, as you call it, after I fell 
to thinking and had figured how I was frit- 
tering my life away at amusements and roam- 
ing. I have been a dreamer, Phil — one of 
those optimistic fellows who can sit back in 
a chair, his feet cocked high, enjoying the 
blue smoke that curls upward from his pipe, 
thinking of the future and planning what he 
will do and how life will be when a certain 
thing comes true. Dreaming, dreaming, 
building castles in the air. If some wanton 
wind blows the castle over, if that ‘certain 
thing’ does not come to pass and all the beau- 
tiful future is blotted out, the dreamer only 
fills his pipe, blows more smoke about him 


The Destroyers 


103 


and builds again. Always optimistic, always 
expecting the world to pay the debt he thinks 
it owes. I was that way too long, and I saw 
the folly of it all. Work — that is the only 
thing to pull a fellow through.” 

“But — do you say the dreamer is a fail- 
ure?” 

“Not totally, in the way you mean, per- 
haps, but almost so.” 

“Didn’t Columbus dream an America be- 
fore he found it? Didn’t Franklin dream be- 
fore the lightning leaped from the key?” 

“Didn’t Columbus, after he dreamed 
America, go out to find it? Did Franklin lie 
about a print-shop, calmly sticking type and 
let the lightning go skirting about the heavens 
while he idly dreamed? You have touched 
my point precisely. I divide men into three 
classes: speculators, workers, and dreamers. 
The most valuable is the speculator. The 
worker is the fellow who can do no better, or 
does no. better, than to draw his wage for the 
expenditure of a questionable quantity of la- 
bor. The speculator is the fellow who figures 
out that effects are produced by causes, and 
after dreaming an effect he sails in and finds 
the cause that will produce it. He is your 
man that buckles harness on Nature’s back 


104 


The Destroyers 


and makes her pull the world. He is the man 
I am going to be. I am going to invent 
nothing, but I am just now experimenting 
with a process whereby a lot of ignorant 
miners, led by a bunch of money-grabbing 
grafters, can be forced to keep their contracts 
or be thrown bodily out of the mines or shops. 
That is my problem, and by all that’s eternal, 
I am going to solve it!” 


CHAPTER VIII 


The first days of November had set in — 
the happy, snappy days of fall-time, when 
skies are clear and air is chill, when the whole 
world seems to be taking a deep breath and 
gaining a strong hold, a grip to tide over the 
long, murky days of winter. From far afield 
came the yelp of dogs and the crack of guns. 
The bob-white’s call of autumn is wafted 
hither and yon on every breeze, the lure that 
takes the sportsman along dusty roads and 
scrubby meadowland. The work of the har- 
vest has all been done, and the fruits of the 
land are in fieldstacks or safely stored in 
barns. The spirit of the out-of-doors holds 
sovereign rule, and in its eminent domain the 
sluggish summer blood finds life and living. 

To a sportsman’s wild, free life, trudging 
dusty roads and lanes, climbing through barb 
wires, leaping rail fence, hopping last sea- 
son’s corn rows, creeping stealthily through 
brush, and hurrying across the meadows, 
Steele gave himself for several weeks. With 
martial law in force he and Phil found sur- 
cease from the excitement of the city in the 


io6 The Destroyers 

hunt. Rabbits, doves, and quail made good 
targets for their guns, and the long jaunts 
brought them to their beds at night weary, 
worn in body, but with their minds growing 
clearer, brighter, with every hour. 

Duty was not altogether tyrannic these 
days, and Kinney was always ready to fill out 
a jolly trio. Little they felt like paying so- 
cial calls in the evenings, and less they seemed 
to care, these three old mates of college days, 
rollicking and romping across the fields, stop- 
ping now and again to refill their pipes, and 
lean against some old rail fence to tell once 
more a story of the times never to be forgot- 
ten by college men. These upper school days 
are ever halcyon to the man whose blood is 
red. 

The tale of the little red schoolhouse on 
the hill is dying away. Those to whom it ap- 
pealed, to whom it was, are passing. When 
our fathers have gone, so will have gone the 
old-time schoolhouse, with its Friday night 
literary meetings and debates ; the old games 
will have been played for the last time, and 
the pump, where they gathered at the noon- 
tide, will have been gathered to its fellows 
in the scrap heap. The swan-song of the old 
schoolhouse is but an echo now. In song and 


The Destroyers 


107 


verse its praises will be given to the world, 
all mysterious because unknown. And in its 
place has risen the wild, relentless “rah! 
rah!” of the gridiron, while bulldog pipes, 
of ferociously curved stems, puff forth as 
much as anything the spirit of the college 
days. What would college days be without 
a bulldog pipe ? And the uglier the pipe, the 
stronger Its odor, the happier seem the recol- 
lections. College men to-day are sentimental 
— about their pipes. They cherish these and 
the memory of the deeds through which they 
have passed, as much as did their fathers love 
to recall the birch rod that hung above the 
desk. Steele and Canby and Kinney were 
Ideal college men from several points of view, 
one of which was the possession of the old 
pipe. 

Two weeks they spent afield, each evening 
weary, but happy, from the day’s sport. 
With Kinney there was an air of abandon 
and carelessness, the same free spirit of his 
younger days. Captain of Battery B, detailed 
as a martial representative of the Chief Ex- 
ecutive of the State, he had nothing especially 
to think of and less to do. He was a thor- 
ough-going disciplinarian in camp, as these 
loose, careless-appearing fellows usually are. 


io8 The Destroyers 

His jollity and effervescing good nature was 
not always to the liking of the Colonel, but 
the discipline — ah, there is where Kinney won 
old Mellett’s heart. Mellet was more the 
disciplinarian than the soldier, despite his 
days as a regular, while Kinney was a very 
acceptable combination of both. 

Canby, realizing to a greater degree each 
day the weight of the responsibilities which 
were resting, or about to rest, upon his shoul- 
ders, was fast losing his careless demeanor 
and was assuming an air of real importance, 
a sort of compact between himself and the 
conditions. 

Steele, by far the most complex, spent the 
two weeks in relaxation. His body lent itself 
to the spirit of the occasion. No ditch was so 
wide he could not jump ; no fence so high he 
could not leap ; no field so rough he could not 
run. His well-trained muscles had not for- 
gotten their cunning. His aim was true, for 
his nerves were good. His laugh had the 
ring of pleasure and his eyes were bright as 
the clear November sky. But behind all this 
was the other man, the man of work. Mo- 
ments were never so exciting in the field that 
he could not hold his mind to the one subject 
of the strike. Plan followed plan in perfect 


The Destroyers 


109 


train, and here and there he chose one, laying 
it securely away until the night for considera- 
tion. 

The fortnight of gunning was closed by a 
heavy fall of sleet and rain; the clear blue 
skies gave suddenly the place to murky, 
smoky, dingy gray. 

The fifteenth was the date set for the Lo- 
tus Club reception. This was an annual func- 
tion, the formal opening of the social season 
in the city of Fenton. Five years it had been 
so, and five years will sometimes establish 
an unwarrantedly strong precedent. But the 
Lotus Club reception seemed to be warranted; 
at least, it was a thing growing stronger with 
each year. It was the agreed plan that Canby 
and Kinney should be ushered through the 
portals of Fenton society at this reception. 
Kinney had met some of the young ladies, as 
he wished. With Canby it was a matter of 
little personal concern. The complexity of 
the Steele nature was also here making itself 
evident. 

Steele made all arrangements to begin with 
the Lotus Club reception and follow steadily 
through the season, his reasons therefor be- 
ing several, but all leading to one end. By 
all the means he could command he would 


1 10 


The Destroyers 


make himself popular in every circle and in- 
gratiate himself to the people of the city, 
binding them to him with every possible tie. 

The club outdid all efforts on this night. 
The presence of the military lends charm to 
the ballroom which cannot otherwise be com- 
pensated. The uniform of blue, with glitter- 
ing, brazen buttons, fitting to men of fine phy- 
sique, cannot but attract the eye; with here 
and there the sight of stripes and shoulder 
straps a room takes on an air of olden days 
when brave men’s hearts were tried by scenes 
more bellicose than labor turbulence. 

However democratic we may be, however 
much the idea imperialistic may be trodden 
beneath our republican feet in theory, how- 
ever much we may rant and rave about our 
peaceful attitude among the nations of the 
earth, we Americans are lovers of the soldier. 
All of us feel the thrill of the stirring martial 
air; the sight of marching regiments with 
bayonets glistening, the regular tap and beat 
of feet upon the pavement, the muffled rum- 
ble of moving cavalry — these fill our hearts 
to the brim with patriotism, and now and 
then we find ourselves gulping back a lump, 
for memories are tender and we yet have 
memories. 


The Destroyers 


III 


Every commissioned officer and some of 
the more favored non-coms, were on the floor 
to-night. Colonel Mellett had not by any 
means forgotten his soldier chivalry, and 
none, however young and gallant he might 
be, was better able to pay true court than the 
gruff old regular. Kinney easily made him- 
self one of the sought-for beaux, his elo- 
quence of manner adding to the charm of 
brass buttons. 

Fenton’s boasted beauty was there; and, 
added to this, there was a score of the belles 
of nearby cities, for it must be again said that 
the Lotus Club reception was a function of 
no mean proportions in the social calendar. 
Miss Edith Markham on the arm of Thomas 
Steele was a very prominent one among those 
to whom much attention was paid. 

Since the coming of the soldiery there was 
a marked change in the attitude of Miss 
Markham toward the young coal baron, or 
perhaps it was a freak of his imagination. 
To her he had first taken Kinney when that 
worthy had asked the favor of knowing the 
beauty of Fenton. Since that time she had 
refused two invitations to go riding with him 
in the car, on each of the occasions having 
engagements to drive with the captain of the 


II2 


The Destroyers 


battery. At first these occurrences were not 
noticed by Steele, but on the evening of the 
last day of the fall hunting outing he had 
called at the Spencer home and found Jack 
there ahead of him. Nothing out of the ordi- 
nary about this, so far as the simple presence 
of Kinney was concerned, but the leading 
germ for an attack of worried mentality lay in 
the further fact that she paid little heed to his 
presence, devoting most of her time to the 
soldier and his conversation. But Miss Edith 
was a thorough diplomat; she was feminine, 
and the combination of true femininity and 
diplomacy is one which is difficult to over- 
come, no matter how powerful the attacking 
force. She was as sweet and gracious in her 
method of allowing Steele to know that he 
was for that evening de trop as she had been 
on occasions in letting him know how greatly 
pleased she was by favors shown. 

For the next two days he was much dis- 
tracted. He knew she would attend the re- 
ception in his company, for he had made the 
engagement several weeks before. That she 
would not break the engagement he well 
knew, and just here is the point which gave 
him cause for worry. He felt, as many hy- 
persensitive persons do, that she would pre- 


The Destroyers 


113 

fer to be with Kinney. He was not willing 
to admit he was jealous; he argued from the 
negative side of the question. Not being in 
love with Miss Markham, how could the yel- 
low monster Jealousy assail him? Business 
affairs in the Steele office were rarely affected 
by an outside influence ; but two days are re- 
corded in the calendar of the Steele strenuous 
life when Jones, the stenographer, was not 
kept quite so busy as recently usual. Jones 
recognized the seeming absent-mindedness of 
his employer but accepted the situation for 
what it was, and found something else to oc- 
cupy his time. It may be mentioned paren- 
thetically that Jones picked up several letter- 
heads about the floor on which had been writ- 
ten the date line but nothing more. Jones 
was only a stenographer and a country boy. 
He had not lingered about the corner-grocery 
long enough to have absorbed any of the 
ground-in principles of logic; his taste did 
not drift in the channels of deduction. These 
are the specific reasons why Jones did not see 
anything wrong in the fact that the date lines 
on each of the letterheads was well written 
and did not contain an error. Neither had he 
paid any particular attention to the fact that 
the letter which was so frequently begun was 
8 


The Destroyers 


114 

never finished, for ever and anon he glanced 
in the direction of Steele and not once did he 
see the operator engaged in writing for more 
than a minute. During the remainder of the 
time he had the pen poised in air and a far-off 
glance was well directed through the window. 
Twice had Jones asked questions of the young 
manager and twice had a reply failed to be 
forthcoming. 

But none of this mental struggle was ap- 
parent on Steele’s face at the reception, nor in 
his manner. No one was more of the gallant, 
no one wore a brighter smile ; not one of the 
young men was more faultlessly attired, nor 
one dancing with better grace. Miss Mark- 
ham danced often with Jack, which had been 
fully expected by Steele, yet each sight of 
which gave him a severe twitch. So often as 
he saw her in the presence of Kinney just that 
much more did he urge himself to be fascinat- 
ing to the person with whom he was dancing. 

The evening was wearing away rapidly and 
the midnight hour was close at hand when 
Steele took her to the balcony. They had de- 
termined, at her request, to sit the dance out. 
To Steele this foreboded good one moment 
and ill the next. He had not yet lost his fac- 
ulty for seeing two sides of a situation at the 


The Destroyers 


115 

same time; whether this was well for him in 
all cases is left to conjecture. The balcony 
was not a large affair. It would easily accom- 
modate three of four couples, and overlooked 
the principal thoroughfare of the city, facing 
the business section, the Lotus Club rooms 
being directly across from the Federal Build- 
ing. As they stepped out into the air Steele 
noticed that the city appeared a little more 
active than was its wont at this season, yet 
paid no heed. The street was well lighted, 
arcs and window lamps combining to make 
the thoroughfare attractive. 

“Mr. Kinney is an entertaining gentleman, 
isn’t he?” 

She might have led the conversation with 
some other remark, but she did not, and Steele 
was forced through gallantry and real candor 
to reply that Jack was an entertaining gentle- 
man. To the best of Steele’s recollection of 
the numerous occasions when they had been 
together. Jack had filled that post very ac- 
ceptably. 

“He has many of the faults of all men, and 
an innate egotism; but with these he ap- 
proaches my idea of a man to some extent,” 
she went on. 

“Rather a doubtful compliment? Or wa§ 


The Destroyers 


ii6 

it intended as a compliment? It might have 
been a soliloquy,” he replied. 

“What is the matter with you lately, Mr. 
Steele? You have not been the same as you 
were a few weeks ago. Is the pressure of 
business too great?” 

“Business pressures are local. Miss Mark- 
ham. I never allow such things to enter too 
strongly when I am away from the office.” 

“Then it is something else. You — ” 

“You are preparing to be as wrong in your 
second guess as you were in the first; perhaps 
you are seeking the real reason?” 

“Then you admit you are not the same?” 

“I must admit it; I am not the same. Be- 
fore you came I cared for no one. You have 
heard me say that before. My business has 
been my one love since my father’s death. 
Such functions as this, even, did not attract 
me. I saw something else to do, saw another 
way to spend my leisure hours, found another 
method of seeking rest and recreation. I had 
my books and my pipe; I had my river and 
my woods, my horses and my car. Nothing 
else brought the enjoyment which they did.” 

“And are they not the same?” 

“Yes, but I am not. You have come. At 
first you filled a vacant place as a companion 


The Destroyers 


117 

because you enjoyed the same things that I 
did. You looked at life from many of the 
same angles; my tales and my adventures 
have interested you for the same reason that 
you have interested me. I have grown to 
love you — ” 

“To,— Mr. Steele I’’ 

“Yes, I have grown to love you, and I wish 
to tell you so. I am not the same man I was 
a few weeks ago, because I am looking at af- 
fairs of life from a different standpoint. 
There are brighter things than sordid busi- 
ness, and I am only just realizing it. I wish 
to tell you that I love you; — I wish I could 
know that you love me^ — but I won’t ask. 
Perhaps I am a coward.” 

Her face was turned from him; he could 
not see her eyes, could not see the expresssion 
which had risen there. Her left hand wan- 
dered to her throat and clutched there as if to 
stop a sob ; perhaps to reassure her voice of 
its power. A moment her lips were drawn in 
a long breath. 

“I — I cannot say how great is the compli- 
ment, Mr. Steele. I have been told before 
that I was loved, but not by one whom — ” 

“Found you people at last, did I? Been 
hunting all over the room,” and out bobbed 


1 1 8 The Destroyers 

the head of Jack Kinney from behind the 
heavy arras. “Miss Thurston wished to 
know if it would not be a good idea if I would 
invite you people to join us at a little supper 
after the reception, and, upon my word, I as- 
sented readily enough. Do you know I had 
really forgotten you, I was so intent — ” 

“Now, Mr. Kinney!” Miss Thurston 
made a pretty attempt to blush. Steele turned 
toward Miss Markham, lifting his brows in 
question as to her desire in the matter. He 
wondered if she would accept the invitation, 
or if she would suggest that the supper begin 
at the earliest moment. 

“Yes, I am sure we will be glad to join 
you after the last dance.” She turned her 
head away, the gesture one of finality. 
“Won’t you join us here for a while? It is 
perfectly delightful after the warmth of the 
room.” 

Not a moment’s hesitation. 

“Be glad to, won’t we. Miss Thurston? 
The room is dreadfully warm and we have 
been wondering where we could find a cool 
spot, though I did not mention it to Miss 
Thurston and I cannot recall that she said 
anything about it to me,” as the rascally Kin- 
ney drew back the arras for their entrance. 


The Destroyers 


il9 


Steele’s blood grew warm and cold in rap- 
idly successive waves, but his expression never 
showed the change, and his smile was one of 
real pleasure and welcome as he moved his 
chair nearer to Miss Markham to make room 
for the newcomers. 

The conversation soon became quite ani- 
mated; so much so, indeed, that no attention 
was paid to the events on the street below. 
No one noticed that here and there a man was 
hurrying, nor that angry words were being 
exchanged in the side street, that leading to 
the mine. 

Bang! — a shot rang, and from his position 
on the balcony the flash of the gun was plainly 
seen by Steele. He alone did not jump, but 
slightly lowered his eyes, the brows shading 
them from the light at the corner, and pierced 
the distance to see who had fired. It was his 
former chief weighman, one of the local lead- 
ers of labor. The young ladies came to their 
feet quickly. Miss Thurston excited. Miss 
Markham interested. 

In a moment a score of men surged out on 
the street from the saloon in front of which 
the weighman had been standing. In the 
hands of each was a gun, some displaying 
two. A wild yell came from the side street, 


120 


The Destroyers 


following which a number of negroes ran into 
view, rifles and revolvers their weapons. Both 
groups halted and fired at the same time. 
From directly in front of the balcony a man 
dashed across the street, and crouched behind 
a barrel at the rear door of a grocery on the 
corner, only a few rods from the group which 
was witnessing this civil warfare. He raised 
a gun, taking aim very cautiously at one of 
the union miners. Steele recognized him; at 
the same moment Kinney saw the act, and 
reached beneath his dress coat, evidently for 
a weapon. Miss Markham saw the move- 
ment and involuntarily moved closer to Steele. 
Before Kinjiey could raise to fire he heard the 
low voice of the operator: 

“Don’t fire. Jack; I’ve got the drop on 
your back.” 

The tone was quiet but intensely command- 
ing. Kinney turned his eyes to find himself 
staring down the long barrel of a shining blue 
Colt’s. Heeding not and becoming excited, 
he again started to raise his gun. 

“Don’t fire, I say. Jack. Your life is no 
better than his.” 

“What do you mean, Steele?” wheeling 
abruptly and angrily. 

“Just what I say. Put down that gun. 


The Destroyers 


I2I 


You are a soldier, and a soldier never com- 
mits a murder.” 

Crack! came the sound of the gun across 
the street. The leader of the miners fell, the 
shooting on both sides suddenly stopped, and 
the remainder of the crowd, thinking they 
were surrounded, ran pellmell into the saloon, 
panic-stricken, pushing, shoving, hurrying 
without order or thought of the others. The 
body of the weighman lay where it had fallen, 
though he was moving his arms toward his 
leg, showing where he had been hit. The 
man behind the barrel leaped out toward the 
negroes with a yell : 

“Get back to the mine, you niggers!” 

They understood; without a word they 
went back, and were lost to view around the 
corner. 

Farr stood watching them for a few mo- 
ments, turned on his heel, and came toward 
the group on the balcony with rapid strides, 
stopping beneath them, but out of sight. 

“Damn it, Billy, what happened to those 
niggers? How did they get out? What 
started the whole thing?” 

“I can’t tell, Farr. The first thing I knew 
they were gathering at the gate, and I yelled 
for you at the other end.” 


122 


The Destroyers 


“It’s a mighty good thing we got here in 
time or those damned wild niggers would 
have murdered every one of those fellows. 
I’m sorry I did it, but I had to wing Gregor 
in the leg to stop the whole thing. If I had 
followed behind instead of coming around I 
might have been hit in the general scrap. 
Steele will be sorry to hear this. The last 
thing he said was to keep away from a fight 
even if I had to kill every nigger in the 
bunch.” The last words were indistinct as 
they moved away. 

It had happened so quickly that all the 
party heard quite plainly. In a moment 
Steele hurried into conversation. 

“I wonder if they know anything about it 
in the room,” broke in Miss Thurston, and the 
party pushed aside the arras, entering the 
ballroom, where the strains of music, laughter, 
and the sound of moving feet had drowned 
out other sounds, leaving the merrymakers 
totally ignorant of the events on the street. 

A short half-hour later the tuneful strains 
of “Home, Sweet Home,” closed the annual 
ball and reception of the Lotus Club, one 
which was to be long remembered — all but 
four for the enjoyment they had, these four 


The Destroyers 123 

for reasons more impressive, spectacular, 
potent. 

The supper was hardly so successful as had 
been anticipated when the invitation was ex- 
tended, but it was a quiet little affair and not 
marred by excitement of the stirring sort. 

“May I — ” she hesitated, as they arrived 
at the door of the Spencer home. 

“Most certainly; any question you wish. 
It is with me to answer or to dodge.” 

“Why did you stop Captain Kinney from 
shooting? Don’t you know you have placed 
yourself in a compromising position and that 
you are liable to the military law?” 

“Because I wanted to save a man’s life. I 
know I am liable to the martial law, but it 
will not be reported.” 

“But the life of the miner there in the 
street?” 

“It was a choice for me to make. I made 
it in my favor.” 

“Selfishness?” 

“Perhaps — it is purely a matter of 
opinion.” 

“But if Captain Kinney reports it?” 

“He won’t.” 

“Suppose it had been some one less your 
friend?” 


124 


The Destroyers 


“I would have done just the same.” 

“And if he had fired after you spoke?” 

“I knew he would not. No man in that 
position would take the chance, when he 
knows there is determination behind the other 
gun.” 

“But I insist — if he had fired?” 

“I cannot answer that, because I don’t 
know. I will tell you that my finger was 
pressing on the trigger, and I will tell you 
that no barrel was ever pointed straighter at 
a man’s heart.” 

“You would have killed Captain Kin- 
ney?” 

“If I had pressed the trigger.” 

“Mr. Steele, what does all this mean? 
Tell me. I have never been able to under- 
stand. Sometimes I think I know you and 
a moment later you show some other phase of 
yourself. What did that man mean below 
us?” 

“Exactly what he said, I suppose. I 
usually believe Farr.” 

“Did he tell the truth?” 

“He always does. Sometimes it is pain- 
ful.” 

“You do not countenance this fighting?” 


T he Destroyers 125 

“Not as fighting; but as a means of obtain- 
ing peace it is an excellent thing.” 

“Don’t you recognize any moral law?” 

“In spirit, all of them. I make my own 
interpretations, however. Some others are 
not useful.” 

“Won’t you return good for evil?” 

“Not until my enemy comes to a realiza- 
tion of my strength.” 

“How long are you going to continue this 
trouble?” 

“Until my enemy comes to a realization of 
my strength.” 

“And what do you mean by your strength? 
What is your end?” 

“The power to operate my business as I 
think best; the power to establish my prop- 
erty rights, to make my private business my 
castle, not to be invaded by any man or gang 
of men.” 

“You will not give in for the sake of 
peace?” 

“Not one single inch. I offered to give in 
some weeks ago. Now it is to the end, and 
the fittest will survive.” 


CHAPTER IX 


Fenton had become a hive of newspaper- 
men. Not less than a score were there, some 
as special men from Chicago, Indianapolis 
and St. Louis, two representing press associa- 
tions, one independent photographer, and 
several free-lance independent writers. Each 
had found something to send out, but was 
suffering the pain of all hustlers — exclusive 
stuff. Oiler, however, was so energetically 
bent on getting a “beat” that he could be seen 
in all the odd places at all the odd hours in 
search of it. Oiler belonged to the class 
known as “jolly good fellows,” and made 
friends with the military officers, Steele, and 
the various labor leaders. He was impa- 
tiently awaiting the coming of the miners’ 
national president, Mike McDermott, having 
a “hunch” from the Times that the labor ex- 
ecutive was to be in Fenton on a certain date, 
which date he kept snugly hidden; in the 
mean time, he had the reputation of “Scoopy” 
Oiler to sustain, and sustain it he would at 
whatever cost to his nerves or his purse. 

He was at the Lotus Club reception, but 


The Destroyers 


127 


had found nothing of particular interest 
there and started for the hotel just as the 
shooting affair took place. He saw a part of 
the fight, and was standing in the lower hall- 
way when Farr passed back to join his com- 
panion. 

The Times is a powerful paper in that 
section, notwithstanding its publication in the 
State metropolis, at some distance. The 
Fenton Tribune and the Press told Fenton 
people of the fight, and told how the only 
injured man was one of the union miners, 
shot by the negroes. But the Times , arriving 
in Fenton at 9 o’clock, told Fenton people a 
different story. It gave the information that 
the negroes were using only rifles and that the 
bullet which injured the union miner was 
from a revolver of large caliber. It also told 
of the firing of that revolver by a white man 
who was at another point ! And it told of the 
conversation between that man and some un- 
known partner I 

Fenton was sensation-struck by the story. 
Opinion was riotous for a few hours, but by 
noon it had come to a fine expression of good- 
will toward Steele. The newspapermen were 
furious ; they saw how Oiler had won a place 
in the good graces of Steele if he wished to 


128 


The Destroyers 


take advantage of it. Oiler recognized what 
an advantage he had gained, but had not the 
opportunity, or did not seize one, to profit 
himself and his paper. Three days after- 
ward it was announced in the Tribune that 
Thomas Steele and Philip Canby would leave 
for a hunting trip in the country to the north. 
No one paid especial attention to it, presum- 
ably, and they boarded the noon train, clothed 
in hunting garb, their guns packed in swart 
leather cases. When Oiler sauntered care- 
lessly into the first day coach he was glad to 
learn that neither of the operators was there, 
and pulling out a novel, dropped quietly into 
a seat. 

Several hundred yards before the train ar- 
rived at the depot of the capital city he 
alighted; the evening was spent in journey- 
ing about the city, greeting a few friends, but 
never getting an inkling of what he desired. 
None of the hotel registers yielded a familiar 
name. It was late in the evening, almost the 
ordinary man’s accustomed bedtime, when he 
dropped into the billiard-room of the Kings- 
ley. 

Surely — yes, that was Steele just reaching 
across the table to make a shot! All after- 
noon he had hunted for that meeting of oper- 


The Destroyers 


129 


ators, thinking it would be no difficult task, 
and here was the very value he needed to com- 
plete the equation. Steele! Here was the 
one known quantity which he might have used 
from the first, and the solution would have 
been easier. Canby glanced across the table, 
saw him, nodded — and he was forced to play 
his part boldly. Walking down to the table 
he took a seat and spoke to both, while look- 
ing upward to the strings to observe the 
progress of the game. Steele was playing 
bold shots but was making them, and his side 
of the string showed him far in the lead. 
When he missed he joined Oiler and watched 
the other play. 

“An excellent game, eh, Mr. Steele? So 
unlike other games,” ventured Oiler in break- 
ing into conversation. 

“Es;cellent, yes. But why so unlike any 
others?” 

“Well, your opponent can stand calmly, or 
impatiently, perhaps, and watch you execute 
a shot. There is nothing up the sleeve; no 
covered plans to throw the opponent off; no 
traps; just a straightout game of skill.” 

Steele’s eyes never left the three balls as 
they clicked sharply and took new posi- 
tions. Canby had bunched them, nursed 
9 


130 


The Destroyers 


them the length of the table, and gathered 
them again, by a pretty shot, at the opposite 
end. It was a moment before he replied to 
Oiler — 

“The good billiard player is trying to 
stack up points while he has a straight game, 
but when he is not sure of making a shot he 
generally tries to leave the balls in the poorest 
possible position for his opponent. It is not 
so different from other games in that respect. 
It is a straight game of skill, as you call it. 
Oiler, but I have scratched out a point when 
the game was really lost and eventually won it 
on that scratch, or on a stroke of boldness. 
In that respect there is not much difference 
from other games. Further than that, if a 
player wishes to get a bet he usually loses 
several easy shots purposely to draw the other 
fellow on. Another instance of no difference. 
Playing strong spots for weak ones to fool 
your opponent.” 

Oiler nodded and pretended interest in the 
game, while he planned his method of attack, 
now that the way had been opened. 

“By the way, Steele, I thought you were on 
a hunting trip,” as if he had just thought of 
the matter. 

“Playing your bold stroke, eh?” Steele 


The Destroyers 


131 

laughed right merrily as he turned again to 
the questioner. “Well, I did start on a hunt- 
ing trip, but in a short time I bagged all the 
game I’ll need for a while.” 

“Going back to-night?” 

“No, I think I shall not go back for a day 
or two. Everything seems to be quiet 
enough.” 

“What did you do at the meeting?” Oiler 
played his boldest. 

Steele was on the defensive and was parry- 
ing successfully. Indifference was the 
weapon. 

“Nothing in particular. It was merely a 
little caucus to prepare for the election of of- 
ficers next month. Some of the fellows wish 
a change.” 

“How about the extension of the strike?” 

“Well,” hesitatingly, “such a question 
would hardly come up before a caucus, do you 
think? Besides, reference to such a thing 
would have to be made by me. You see our 
association was formed not for the purpose 
of extending industrial troubles but for the 
purpose of settling them.” 

“Peace may be obtained by war.” 

“You had better look at it from another 
view-point. Notice what we are against nu- 


132 


The Destroyers 


merically, and the amount of money that 
would be lost in making war.” 

“Look at what the miners are against 
financially,” replied Oiler quickly. 

“All this is dreadfully far fetched, though. 
Oiler. You would get more news here on 
earth than in the clouds of wonderland.” 

Oiler rose from his seat, passed his cigar 
case to Steele and to Canby before helping 
himself and lighting it. 

“Anticipation is the first law of journalism, 
Steele.” 

“And realization the chance-gotten end?” 

Both laughed over the exchange, shook 
hands, and Oiler departed. 

“Phil, Oiler is on a good track, but he 
doesn’t know the game he is following. We’ll 
have to stop the story he sends out to-night.” 

“Do you think he is onto anything?” 

“Sure of it. We’ll play about an hour and 
then you go to the Western Union and I shall 
watch the Postal. If anything turns up we’ll 
meet at the hotel.” 

When the hour had passed, they paid the 
bill and left the room. The night was a clear 
one, the first in December. Above him 
Canby looked and saw the stars piercing 
coldly through the chill night air as if watch- 


The Destroyers 


133 


ing, detective-like, his movements. Pulling 
his ulster more tightly about him he walked 
rapidly to keep up the temperature and to get 
to his station before Oiler could file the sup- 
posed message. 

Along another street Steele was hurrying 
for the same reasons. The mind of each was 
busy working out the plan of action. 

Canby was the fortunate one, — or, per- 
haps, unfortunate, — for to his lot did it fall 
to watch Oiler’s movements. Just a few 
minutes before midnight that newspaper 
hustler entered the office across the street, and 
from his vantage point Phil saw the clerk 
glance at the wall clock before accepting the 
message, or to place the time of filing. Oiler 
looked at his watch. It was evident he was 
trying to catch the mail edition. When he 
left Canby followed for two blocks, then en- 
tered a drug-store. 

Going straight to the ’phone, after asking 
permission for its use, he scanned the book 
hanging close by. 

“Give me 1642 main.” 

(( 

“Hello; 1642 main?” 

(( 11 

“I filed a rush message to the Tmes a few 


134 ' The Destroyers 

minutes ago. You haven’t sent it yet, have 
you?” 

(( ?} 

“Good; can you send it to me real quick 
at the St. Nicholas? I want to make some 
changes.” 

With that he purchased a cigar and hast- 
ened across to the hotel to meet the messen- 
ger. 

“Hello, Phil.” Steele was standing at the 
corner. 

“Got it coming, Tom. Told them I 
wanted to make some changes.” 

A messenger on wheel rode up to the en- 
trance and Canby obtained the message after 
convincing the boy it was for him, and hand- 
ing over a coin for the trouble. The paper 
was unfolded in their rooms, after a call had 
been left for 6 o’clock. 

“ ‘This has been a crucial day for the indus- 
trial situation at Fenton. As announced in 
these reports yesterday from Fenton, Opera- 
tor Thomas Steele left there this morning on 
a supposed hunting trip, being accompanied 
by his secretary, Phil Canby. They came to 
this city, where they have been during the 
entire day. To-day in this city was held a 
meeting of some of the leading operators of 


The Destroyers 13 5 

the State, the purpose being to caucus for the 
election of officers which will be held in the 
latter part of December. However, it is 
thought that the meeting had something to 
do with the present situation at Fenton. Op-, 
erator Steele was seen by a Times representa- 
tive this evening, but did not directly divulge 
anything further than has been given in the 
foregoing; in fact, the foregoing is directly 
from him. Notwithstanding this, there is 
something on the tapis, and it is generally 
thought by those who are on the inside of 
some of the latest movements that the opera- 
tors will have something to say, and will act 
together on the Fenton situation. It cannot 
be said that there will be a united lockout, 
though this has been whispered about in some 
circles in Fenton. There are several disad- 
vantages in such a plan, though it is thought 
the operators will go to any length to give aid 
to Steele, who is one of the most popular 
members of the Operators’ Association, one 
whose actions have been taken as the very best 
for the welfare of the coal trade in this State. 

“ ‘Should such a concerted movement be 
made by the operators of this State it would 
throw thousands of workmen out of positions 
and, too, at a time when work is absolutely 


The Destroyers 


136 

needed by all the men. The strike fund 
would not be sufficient to support so many 
men out on strike, for it is a well-known fact 
that they would declare strike so soon as a 
lockout was seen to be imminent in order to 
gain the benefit of the fund. As stated, there 
are disadvantages to this plan, from a mone- 
tary standpoint. The product which Fenton 
has been sending to the markets each season 
is cut off to a large degree, a fact which has 
had a strong tendency to cause an uplift in 
price and which will have a still greater effect 
in the near future. At last reports the city of 
Fenton was quiet. Nothing more of exciting 
interest is expected to happen on account of 
the hold which the military has on the situa- 
tion.’ ” 

Steele finished the reading aloud, looked at 
the paper again for a long minute, and then 
meaningly at Canby. 

“Wouldn’t that have raised the very 
devil?” 

“I should rather think so. But what shall 
we do with it?” 

“Well, Phil, I simply have to be in Chi- 
cago to-morrow. So much for that. I sup- 
pose the best thing is to find Oiler. Go to the 
phone and call up all the hotels; call all the 


The Destroyers 


137 


newspaper offices, morning papers first. Get 
him to this room as soon as possible, and in 
the mean time I’ll be taking a snooze. You 
can sleep all the way to Chi if you wish, but 
I have to be working on the way.” 

Canby was not long in attending to the 
business. In less than fifteen minutes after 
he returned Oiler put in an appearance and 
was admitted to the room. 

“Oiler, you and I have been pretty good 
friends since you came to Fenton. Do you 
remember of a single instance where I refused 
you a piece of news, if I thought it was time 
for publication?” 

Oiler shook his head and answered in the 
negative. 

“Well, sir, here is a message I was forced 
to get from the telegraph office to-night to 
save myself a lot of trouble, and you, too.” 

Oiler recognized the paper and flared up 
in anger. 

“Don’t lose your temper, old fellow. I am 
the one who should be angry. Maybe I 
should not have invited you here to-night, but 
I am going to treat you square. This mes- 
sage didn’t get off because we were watching 
for something of the kind. You let the cat 
pretty well out of the bag at the Kingsley to- 


13 S The Destroyers 

night. I thought then from the way you were 
going that you would find the wrong animal. 
Now you have found a beast that resembles 
a goat on one end and a mule on the other. 
I wouldn’t fool with it if I were you. I used 
to be a newspaper-man myself, Oiler, and I 
know how good it feels to score a scoop. But 
never did I take the long chances you have in 
this story. Don’t you know that your guess- 
ing and surmising would have ruined me if 
this had been published? If you knew you 
were guessing rightly it would be a great 
feather in your cap, but there is where the rub 
comes in. You have no facts. You took long 
chances for the feather and left me com- 
pletely out. How could I ever expect to 
figure for an amicable settlement after such a 
story as this had gone the rounds of the State? 
And worse still, I am not going back to Fen- 
ton for several days, and in the mean while 
the miners would be going crazy over the re- 
port. All the soldiers in the country wouldn’t 
keep them from burning every piece of prop- 
erty belonging to me, possibly from killing 
every nigger around the shafts, and then wind 
up by going out on a drunken brawl, the ef- 
fects of which are not even guessable. Can’t 
you see that hell would break loose?” 


The Destroyers 139 

“But why are you here?” asked Oiler, 
semi-menacingly, quasi-triumphantly. 

“On private business, Oiler. Even though 
this strike has made my mining business par- 
tially a public matter, I cannot see that my 
goings and comings are matters of great in- 
terest.” 

“Didn’t you come here on mine business?” 

“Yes; but the results of my visit here to- 
day have no direct bearing on the present 
trouble. When things are in better shape 
perhaps I may give you a good story on the 
business which brought me here. At present 
I cannot because the story would be misinter- 
preted.” 

“Were there not some other operators 
here?” 

“There always are. This city has several 
important mines; it is in the heart of a rich 
mining district. It is the capital of the State, 
the regular meeting-place for operators as it 
is for men in other lines of business, since it 
is so near the geographical center of the 
State.” 

“Didn’t you talk with operators to-day 
about the Fenton situation?” 

“How could a situation such as that fail to 
be discussed, and more especially when I was 


140 The Destroyers 

in the party?” Steele was answering ques- 
tions like a shot. 

“Didn’t these operators agree with what 
you are doing?” 

“Yes, and with what I am not doing.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“They agreed with my views about 
running my business to suit myself; that the 
union should be recognized because it is a 
good thing and has good foundation prin- 
ciples; they agreed with me that the union 
should become, or forced to become, a corpo- 
rate body which could sue and be sued, a body 
which can be forced in the courts to stand by 
its contracts. The union must incorporate. 
It must become a thing which can stand on 
its own feet. Incorporation of labor organi- 
zations will be the remedy for our troubles, 
the dove of peace that may settle on our 
cannons and stop industrial war. We are 
not fighting the principles of the union. Oiler. 
We are fighting the interpretations made by a 
few harum-scarum, grafting walking dele- 
gates, not worth a tinker’s dam for anything 
but to draw salaries for fomenting strikes.” 

“You want the union in your mines?” 

“I would be satisfied, under the conditions 
which I state. I do not want the union in its 


The Destroyers 


141 

present condition. I fight in the open when 
I fight. I don’t believe in shooting at a fel- 
low’s back in the dark. Let the union become 
a corporation; let it be solid before the law, 
in principle and in fact; let it attend to its 
own rightful business of uplifting its mem- 
bers, getting better wages and shorter hours, 
good places in which to work, humane com- 
forts for the home, education for the children, 
and quit this everlasting business of sticking 
its finger into some other fellow’s pie.” 

“But the union leaders say they will not in- 
corporate because they fear a lot of useless 
and harassing litigation.” 

“Rot, Oiler. They are not afraid of that. 
You are sensible enough, and have sense 
enough, to know that these leaders are draw- 
ing good salaries, and all for settling strikes, 
for straightening out difficulties which con- 
stantly arise. Suppose the unions are incor- 
porated and most of the strikes are settled be- 
fore they are commenced; suppose contracts 
are carefully read and considered before they 
are signed, and when they are signed the 
union knows it must stand by those contracts 
until their expiration; don’t you know there 
will be a less number of strikes, and therefore 
a less number of jobs to be filled by walking 


142 


The Destroyers 


delegates and disturbance raisers ? Put your- 
self in the place of one of these labor leaders; 
what would you do? Wouldn’t you think it 
would be the height of folly for the laboring- 
men to be incorporated in a union? There 
will be no harassing litigation. We operators 
have too much else to think about. We are 
out for the money, and there is more of it in 
mining and marketing our coal than there is 
in litigation.” 

“Would you employ only union miners 
then?” 

“Perhaps. I believe in freedom of action. 
I believe a man has a right to work for whom- 
soever he pleases. If I see a man who is able 
to dig my coal and do it rightly I am going 
to keep him, whether he belongs to a union or 
not. However, I would ask him to join the 
union under the new conditions, because I be- 
lieve it would be the best thing for him in 
every way. He would be just as good a miner 
as before and would enjoy all the added ad- 
vantages which a union could give. At the 
same time, I believe that if the union would 
hold to its fundamental principles and would 
also incorporate, I believe laboringmen would 
become members more readily because they 


The Destroyers 143 

would recognize the advantages gained in 
banding with their fellows.” 

“Why don’t you make a statement of that 
kind for publication? Don’t you think it 
would strengthen your cause?” 

“Well, Oiler, if you are willing to use just 
what I have said, I am perfectly willing to 
make it exclusive. Do you want it?” 

“Want it! I should say I do want it! It 
will make me solid with ‘the old man,’ an-d it 
is a good story just at this time.” 

“All right. I’ll write an interview with 
myself to-night and will leave it at the office 
downstairs for you in the morning.” 

Oiler expressed his thanks, thinking him- 
self in great luck to get such a story, and left 
the room satisfied with the affair. 

“Is that what you wanted with him, 
Tom?” questioned Canby. 

“No, Phil, it wasn’t; but it turned out all 
right. I wanted to tell him something about 
the ethics of newspaper work when I first saw 
him, but accidentally drifted, luckily. I’ll sit 
up now and get that story ready. I think it 
will help to get me solid with the public. 
That is what I want just now. Perhaps if I 
follow this with a few more interviews I shall 
win quicker than I expect.” 


CHAPTER X 


The grip of winter was firm. During the 
past fortnight the icy arms of Boreas had 
steadily pinioned the middle West and now, 
two weeks before Christmas, his grip was 
close and tight. Everything presaged a 
severe season of cold. Every farmer coming 
into the city on his weekly or semi-monthly 
trading visit told the sort of weather he ex- 
pected. There is no class of people so certain 
in its predictions concerning the weather as 
the farmer. It is his business, or a part of it, 
to know just what weather is to be enjoyed 
or suffered. Years of study on the subject by 
his forbears, added to more years of study 
and the gathering of much invaluable data 
by himself, lend to the farmer the necessary 
bases upon which to build his deductive 
fortress; and when he fires a shot of predic- 
tion from that citadel it is with such truth of 
aim that he rarely misses. Of course, the few 
exceptions but test the rule. 

The goose bone of the past month had 
been particularly heavy. Every rural gentle- 
man vied with his fellows in this statement. 


The Destroyers 


145 


This is sufficient evidence of the approach of 
a severe winter, but when it is added that the 
squirrels had laid up unusually large stores 
of nuts and that the housewives’ cats could 
not be driven long from their comfortable 
resting-places beneath the great wood stoves 
or near the grates, — ah, then we must accept 
the inevitable ! And, too, the season prom- 
ised to be a long one, though it was beginning 
rather late. On the first day of December it 
snowed; there was presage in this: thirty 
snowstorms during the winter, for there will 
be as many snows as there are days remaining 
in the month in which the first snow flies. All 
the science in all the textbooks ever turned off 
the presses cannot disprove these facts, for 
they are straight from the data gathered by 
generations of men whose lives have been 
closest to the natural processes. To deny or 
to fail to show belief in one of these predic- 
tions is to lose a friend among the farmers, 
and it means that your rating as a person of 
common sense will be lessened in their estima- 
tion and in the estimation of their friends. 

Steele and Canby returned from Chicago a 
week after leaving Fenton. In his grip the 
young magnate carried back several large 
contracts for coal, delivery to begin as soon 
10 


146 


The Destroyers 


as possible. He had not rested a moment on 
the trip. He closed gentleman’s deals with 
heads of departments of two railroads 
whereby he would be well supplied with cars ; 
obtained contracts for the delivery of thirty 
cars of coal each day to one of the roads and 
twenty to another; agreed to make immedi- 
ate delivery to eight of the large coalyards, 
offering a rebate which brought his price, de- 
livered, a shade lower than that of other dis- 
tricts, despite the disadvantages he suffered in 
differential. This he was enabled to offer by 
gaining a rebate in freight rates and also an 
agreement with operators in other districts 
that they would not underbid him this time 
for the trade. They, too, were to profit in 
future by the fight, should he win, and gave 
him their material support by the agreement. 
Moreover, Steele was a power which few 
operators were anxious to antagonize, for 
they had learned in previous fights that this 
man never went in to lose; that he was a 
staunch friend and a bitter foe, a fellow who 
dared to do and had not yet failed to do what 
he dared. Their acquaintance with him in 
the financial world had taught them infi- 
nitely more, evidently, than the 'miners had 
learned in their acquaintanceship. Operator? 


The Destroyers 


147 


knew why Steele was fighting the union ; they 
knew his belief in the basic principles of 
unionism; they knew some of the methods 
by which he hoped to win — and accepted his 
terms of agreement. 

And Steele profited greatly by the publica- 
tion of the interview, sent out of the capital 
by Oiler of the Times. 

On such questions as this the public is in- 
variably and inevitably divided; the majority 
almost always goes over to the side of the 
workingman, because the public is largely 
composed of laborers. There was a time in 
the first few years of the century when a 
laborer did not hesitate for a moment in ex- 
pressing his opinion. That was a time when 
organization and unionism were running away 
with the country, when success begot greater 
success, and the flow of new members into all 
the unions could not be stemmed. Not to be 
a union man was just a shade better than 
being a mongrel cur — but only a shade; the 
laborer whose entire heart and soul was not 
with the unions and unionism was a labor in- 
fidel, a heretic who should be hung to a gibbet 
as a horrible example. It was during those 
years of rampant unionism that the wind was 
sown, a planting which could be aught else 


148 


The Destroyers 


than reaped as a whirlwind. It is a universal 
truth that when the last calculations on a 
man’s life are made, when the final entry has 
been posted and the books are closed and 
handed to the Great Auditor, each one has 
received just about what he has given. A 
coal miner rose by leaps and bounds to the 
presidency of the union. Grasping his scepter 
of organization in one hand and opening the 
book of a four-year-old doubtful success with 
the other, he called to his clans to be ready 
for a great strike in the springtime: publicly 
he declared his giant strength and told the 
people of a free country how he would crucify 
the mine owner if that heretic did not forth- 
with adopt the beliefs of the orthodox. He 
sowed the dragon teeth. 

After that there came the open defiance of 
two of the leading railroads in which they de- 
cided to no longer recognize the union. It 
was a long, hard fight, but their strength 
was greater than the laborers had anticipated, 
not to mention the fact that the heads of 
those railroads were young men with the red 
fighting blood of Americans coursing through 
their veins. Anti-boycott laws had been 
pushed through the legislative assemblies 
Steadily, but surely, thus taking away the 


The Destroyers 


149 


union’s heavy bludgeon. It must also be 
chronicled that in those years when the unions 
were feeling their strength growing, when 
they were in their ’teens of know-it-all, 
anxious to forever control the labor market, 
they passed laws for their organizations 
whereby the number of apprentices in many 
of the trades was limited closely. For a few 
years this was not noticed, but there came a 
time when the great demand for labor in the 
various lines of industry could not be supplied. 
The reason was sought at once and at once 
determined as being this limitation of the 
learners of trades. The unions, unwilling to 
realize the danger, doggedly held to their 
ideas of limiting the learners. Some there 
were who expressed the belief that the death 
rate among skilled laborers had suddenly be- 
come greater than the birth of new laborers; 
that is, that there were more journeymen 
dying during a few months or a year than 
there were young men who had worked 
through their apprenticeship. This was not 
true. An era of industrialism had come ; not 
a thing evanescent, preceding a great crash, 
but a healthful growth in the industries pro- 
duced by a warranted demand for finished 
product. The work on a great interoceanic 


150 


The Destroyers 


canal had been begun ; the production of gold 
was far in excess of anything recently; a 
gigantic war had opened all the Orient to 
trade which now the Occidental nations seized 
upon with avidity; fields in semi-barbaric 
lands were being cultivated; great strides 
were being made in water and terrestrial 
transportation, while passage through the air 
was a matter of intense experiment. Four of 
the nations of earth at once had become rivals 
in world commerce; their agents went far 
afield in search of trade ; the merchant marine 
of the United States became a reality, and the 
subsequent building and operation of Ameri- 
can bottoms gave an impetus to the industrial 
growth. These may be taken in their entirety 
as the cause of the increased demand for 
labor. 

Since the coming of that labor demand the 
years had been fitful ones for the unions. 
Realizing the hold which they had on the 
situation, the leaders at once led the members 
to see chances for better wages. “A fair 
wage for a fair day’s labor” became the cry, 
and the employer was forced to accept. 
There was a demand for his product — he 
would make the consumer pay the advance in 
the price of labor, and a little more. Then 


The Destroyers 

the period of thoughtful calculation ; the time 
when the public, which ever pays the cost of 
labor dissensions and the advance in labor’s 
price, attempted to approach an understand- 
ing of the situation. Labor lifted its 
bludgeon, and cried : 

“Thou shalt not think! We are all pow- 
erful! We who toil beside the furnace and 
in the bowels of the earth shall not submit to 
a question of the justice of what we demand. 
Our word shall be law; our demands shall 
be obeyed!” 

Steele was not by any means the first em- 
ployer who had voiced several of the ideas 
made public in his interviews. But the others 
had lost. None of them had been thoroughly 
prepared for the fight when the declaration 
of war had come; none of them had seen so 
well the streams to be bridged ; none had yet 
the boldness to attempt such moves as he was 
now making on the chessboard of industrial- 
ism. The new movement of his pawns was 
for the purpose of gaining popular favor for 
his contention. With this he realized how 
great would be his advantage. 

Now were come the first hard days of the 
season. Cold weather had been slow in com- 
ing, but when the winter king did sweep from 


152 


The Destroyers 


his northern realms on his annual conquest 
he seemed to have brought all his forces to 
Fenton district. All summer the miners had 
not worked, even being too busy with their 
mine troubles to accept labor in the fields. 
When Boreas arrived he found them wearing 
summer garments, living on summer fare, 
short of fuel and many of them without 
stoves wherewith to burn the little coal 
picked up along the tracks. The sum paid 
out of the “commissary,” the strike fund, was 
not sufficient to meet all demands. Miners 
are a class of people who are spendthrifts 
when work is plenty; they know not the im- 
prudence of buttering bread on both sides 
when butter is plenty; they have suffered 
the lack of both before and have not learned. 
Let work be in plenty once again, and again 
they are princes who spend their money lav- 
ishly. When the public is with their cause 
their credit is good. But in Fenton now their 
cause was not popular. Merchants foresaw 
the end, perhaps. At any rate they believed 
strongly in the contention of the young opera- 
tor, and refused to give credit to the hungry 
miners who flocked at the counters to buy. 
Merchants whom the miners in their pros- 
perous times had not patronized were impor- 


The Destroyers 


153 


tuned to extend credit for a few months, till 
the mines opened again; but they did not 
yield. Those who had received the greater 
bulk of the labor trade now lent sympathy, 
but no time. A crisis was approaching with 
rapid strides. Hungry, thin-clad, indignant, 
maddened by the rebuffs of business men 
where they sought trade, crazed by the con- 
stant loading and shipping of coal from 
the Steele mines, made more desperate by 
the straits in which they found them- 
selves at the dead of winter, the miners 
met in the union hall and hurled the 
foulest invective at Steele and his sup- 
porters. Led by those who had obtained 
liquor, they crowded from the hall to visit 
their vengeance upon the one whom they held 
responsible for their condition, only to be met 
in the streets by the lowered bayonets of a 
stern-looking lot of boys in blue, and scattered 
in dismay and fear to their homes, where they 
huddled all night about small wood fires, 
fighting against the frozen death until day- 
light, when they would again go in search of 
food and raiment. Night after night for a 
week they were driven from their insane 
orgies in the hall to their shivering, suffering 
families at home. Each morning brought 


154 


The Destroyers 


nothing more hopeful than the daylight; 
each night nothing worse than a few hours 
nearer death. Storm followed storm each 
day, and the great banks of snow became 
deeper, the cold more penetrating. It was 
not the sun of summer days which shone upon 
the earth, but only a smouldering ball of 
dying fire, fighting against a cold, lead-gray 
sky for its own existence, giving only light 
without attendant heat. One day was like 
another — cold and drear, dismal, por- 
tentous of a horrible end. The wolf gnawed 
and howled and scratched and screamed all 
night for entrance through the door, and 
then slunk away within sight, but out of 
reach, waiting through the hours for night to 
fall again. Babies nestled, crying and shiver- 
ing with cold, to their mothers’ breasts, 
whimpering for nourishment until they fell 
asleep, weak and exhausted. Strong men 
bent as with an added burden of years; the 
fire of life burned lower, sputtered, reached 
out now and then for a new lease, something 
inflammable, only to find it elusive, gone. 

Brandon of the Tribune, through the 
columns of his paper, called for contributions 
for a fund to relieve the suffering. In a 
prettily worded editorial he explained that 


The Destroyers 


155 


his motive was purely humanitarian; that, 
when this crisis was past, he would fight just 
as hard as before for the cause he had 
espoused from the beginning. He told the 
pitiful plight in which many of the families 
had been found, and asked that the people of 
the city, laying aside their opinions on the 
trouble, give of their goods at this time of 
the year when all should say and think, 
“Peace on earth, good will to men.” The 
call was effective. Among the first to respond 
was Thomas Steele, with 100 tons of coal. 
This, heading the list in the Tribune of next 
morning, caused hundreds of others to send 
in donations during the day, Brandon giving 
more time to the raising of the fund and the 
distribution of necessities than to his paper. 
Among the contributions he found several 
which gave him cause for thought. There 
were ten envelopes sent through the mail to 
him, each containing one hundred dollars in 
small bills, and nothing else. The envelopes 
were all different and none had a mark which 
could be taken as a clue. They had been 
mailed at different times of the day and at 
various boxes in the city. Part of the hand- 
writing seemed to be familiar to Brandon, 
and he called Steele in to help him on the 


156 The Destroyers 

work of detection. Nothing further could 
be learned. It made a fine story for the 
Tribune, and was the cause for much com- 
ment for several days throughout the city. 
The unknown donor did not apply for his 
share of the thanks which Brandon was giv- 
ing to those who had contributed. 

With several wagons, each loaded to its 
capacity, the committee made a circuit of 
miners’ houses on the day before Christmas 
to distribute the necessaries, reserving the dis- 
tribution of the little luxuries, the reminders 
of Christmas, until the next day. Suffering 
had been relieved. That night before Christ- 
mas will never be forgotten in Fenton. Hun- 
dreds of miners donned heavy clothes for the 
first time in the year; hundreds were able to 
satisfy the cravings of. hunger, to feel again 
the warm blood coursing through their veins, 
the satisfaction, the optimism which follows 
a hearty meal; and almost all of them, per- 
haps, felt that night as if they would go to 
work on the morrow. Such is the effect which 
sudden pleasure following long suffering and 
pain has upon the human organism. One of 
the present-day writers has a character in his 
book to remark that the views which any man 
has of the world and its events, its sorrow 


The Destroyers 157 

and its happiness, are in the ideal which he is 
eating. 

Night after night a pale, cold moon had 
glistened frigidly upon a whitened earth, 
silent, dismal, suffering. The rows of little 
cottages where miners dwelt had been dark 
and drear; no smoke had curled about the 
chimneys to tell of fire and warmth within; 
no sound of voices to tell of happiness or con- 
tent; even the wild discontent, the all-per- 
vading dissatisfaction, hate and avarice, were 
quiet within the homes where idle laborers 
huddled in fitful sleep, dreaming wild dreams, 
waking to mutter curses through the night 
upon the head of him who had placed them 
in this want and privation. Never did they 
lay the culpability upon themselves — to have 
done so would have been to shatter all prece- 
dent of human nature. 

To-night as the wagons drove back to their 
stables in the city, the moon beamed down 
with a warmer smile, the snow reflecting in 
pure white gleams. How wonderful the 
change, even in the moon ! How truly won- 
derful this transformation of the entire per- 
spective ! One’s views are broad when one is 
happy, and one is happy when hunger and 
thirst ar^ driven away. Hunger and want 


158 The Destroyers 

build a mighty barrier between our eyes and 
a beautiful vista beyond. We cannot under- 
stand the joy of living unless all the elements 
of life are ours. 

Miss Markham had accepted the invitation 
of Steele for a sleigh ride on this beautiful eve 
before Christmas, and together they glided 
over the hard-packed snow, the tingling bells 
ringing out to all the world the gladsome tid- 
ings of the holy day. He was the master of 
a horse, and drove his handsome black to- 
night at such an even pace and fast that the 
sleigh seemed possessed of wings. Their 
conversation was of the most general nature 
for a long time; they were struggling against 
saying things which would provoke discussion 
or embarrassment. At last she mustered cour- 
age and began to discuss the contributions and 
the humanitarianism of Brandon. 

“Has Mr. Brandon found yet who is the 
mysterious donor?” 

“I suppose he has not or he would have 
let me know. You know he and I were much 
interested after we discovered it was really a 
mystery.” 

“What caused you to become interested?” 

“Why is it that women are curious about 
certain things ? They cannot answer the 


The Destroyers 


159 


question themselves. Yet, if they could I 
suppose it would be the same as mine — be- 
cause.” 

“But you never appealed to me as a man 
who lets his curiosity run away with him.” 

“Well,” he smilingly replied, “let us put 
you in my position. Would you not have 
found some zest, something to break the 
monotony of business, in helping Brandon 
find the resemblance in the different specimens 
of handwriting? Wouldn’t you have had 
some curiosity to know who in the city of 
Fenton was giving a thousand dollars to the 
men you were fighting? Wouldn’t you begin 
to think he was rather a staunch friend to 
those men, and wouldn’t you have a firm de- 
sire to know who the friend might be?” 

“Yes, I confess I would have been moved 
by just such impulses. That does prove the 
miners have a good friend in the city. Do 
you suspect any one?” 

“If you look over the list of contributors 
you will find there the name of every man in 
the city who is able to give. Each seems to 
have given the limit. It is useless to guess.” 

“I suppose you will laugh at me and say 
that I am too romantic; but once, when I 
was a little girl, I read a story of a prince who 


i6o The Destroyers 

was attacked by the army of a neighboring 
prince — two brothers who had long been 
waging war upon each other. This battle 
took place on the day before Christmas and 
my fairy prince was successful in keeping off 
the invasion of his brother. That evening 
many of the dead and dying lay about the 
field, and the victor went out on the scene of 
the day’s carnage and gave the injured help. 
He helped to bandage their wounds and made 
them comfortable; and next day he sent 
packages of food and drink to the scattered 
•remnants of his brother’s army, saying to 
them, ‘For this day, at least, let peace be on 
earth, let us have good will for all men.’ ” 

He had listened attentively, with a smile 
which bade her go on. 

“You do not suppose for a moment,” as 
she finished, “that I am wasting my money 
by sending a thousand dollars to those who 
are fighting me, do you ? Have I in any way 
a resemblance to a fairy prince? And, in the 
end, must we not leave the fairy princes for 
children’s story books? There are surely 
none of them to-day.” 

“Sometimes I think I know you, I think I 
can say the thing which will draw you out, I 


The Destroyers i6i 

wish you had told me you were the con- 
tributor of that money.” 

“Why? Do you care?” One hand sought 
and found her gloved hand, and the wind- 
squint in his eyes gave place to a softened 
glance as he spoke, slowly, in a tone convey- 
ing more than words. 

“I — I — like my friends to be kind — I like 
to know they are kind. It helps to make one’s 
ideals of the world so much brighter.” 

“You could have said that you cared.” 

“But you did not give the money.” 

“That would not have kept me from feel- 
ing encouraged. I would do anything you 
would ask. I want you to love me, Edith; 
can’t you say it?” 

“I — I love every one, Mr. Steele. There 
are so many and I always find something I 
like in every good man. You must remember 
Captain Kinney; has he not treated me 
lovely? He is big and handsome and strong, 
purposeful in his actions and brave. But 
they all forget in time. Others have told me 
they loved me, and each has forgotten after 
a little while. Perhaps you will do the same. 
There are so many other women.” 

“Which is not the estimation you have 
made of me.” 


i 62 


The Destroyers 


“You are a mind reader?” 

“Hardly. But I know well enough there 
is no person of common sense, one who puts 
actions and words at some real value, who 
would say that I am anything but sincere.” 

“I did not mean that. The others were 
always sincere at the time, but their hearts 
and minds changed.” 

“And you think I am so changeable? You 
think that a pretty face runs away with me? 
That I use the love-word to express pleasure 
when some one strikes an odd fancy?” 

“You are making misconstructions. I did 
not mean that, either.” 

“You have not learned, then, in the short 
acquaintanceship,” he hurried on, “that I 
have never spoken until I had thought twice ; 
you have not learned how really deliberate I 
am? You have seen my methods of running 
my own business ; you have learned how I re- 
fuse to be led by those who have always led 
my fellows; you are on the scene to see how 
purposeful is every plan I lay, how it has been 
considered until every weak point is elimi- 
nated; you have heard friend and foe speak 
of me in the same terms, and yet you think I 
am changeable, am a weakling when my heart 
is concerned? You — 


The Destroyers 


163 

“Please, Mr. Steele, do not go any further. 
I know you are a strong man. I know that 
you are much stronger in character than I 
may ever be; that you never act until you 
have canvassed a situation. But I cannot 
say that I love you. Those are the traits I 
love, the ones you have, the characteristics 
that I see in you each day, even if I may not 
at times quite understand. But that is not the 
kind of love, only. I want to give my whole 
heart to the man I love. I want to know 
that I can trust him, that I do trust him, that 
he would never deceive me, even about the 
smallest thing; I want him always to be 
truthful with me. I want to be his, just his, 
without any doubt — forever. I want there to 
be no question. I want to know that no other 
man can ever fill his place. I just want to 
know that I am his — I want to think of him 
all day and dream of him all night.” 


CHAPTER XI 


Christmas day! Was ever the birthday of 
the Saviour enjoyed in Fenton as it was to- 
day? So far as weather conditions were con- 
cerned it was ideal. Two feet of snow cov- 
ered the ground, mantling the earth in a 
robe of white ; snow-covered ice clung to the 
limbs of trees and shrubs and hung, pendant- 
like, at the tip ends, making them resemble 
great crystal plants. To the pillars of 
porches and galleries adhered this fairy en- 
crustation, while masses of it hung from 
eaves and grillwork of the houses. The main 
streets, heavily traveled during the last few 
days, were packed tightly with ice and snow, 
excellent paths for the sleds and sleighs. 
Fenton this Christmas day was awakened by 
the merry jingle of sleighbells, and the laugh 
and cheery “Merry Christmas” of those who 
were out so early to enjoy the best and most 
fascinating sport of the season. 

The negroes at the mines were up betimes, 
shivering because unaccustomed to severe 
climate, though they had lived before in 
snowy sections in the hills and mountains of 


The Destroyers 


165 


north Alabama. All about the barricade 
were heard the quaint chants of olden times 
and the “rag” of the newer, as they busied 
themselves about their work preparatory to 
a holiday, or joked with each other in negro 
fashion, hallooing at short distances and 
chuckling to themselves as they heard some 
good quip and only waited to pay the giver in 
better coin. Canby and Farr were busy. 
With such a crowd as this, with the responsi- 
bilities which had been placed upon them, 
they realized what it would be possible for a 
holiday to mean. It was theirs to see that no 
trouble was brought on at the mines among 
the negroes, that none got drunk, that no 
arms were borne by any who left the barri- 
cade. These were the strict orders of Steele, 
and an order from Steele was made for the 
purpose of being obeyed to the letter. 

In the residence district of the miners the 
scene was vastly different. There was no 
work for them to do. The dawn of Christ- 
mas day meant only another period of day- 
light in this fight against the ogre. Its only 
point of difference lay in the relief which 
they enjoyed from their misery and want. 
From their chimneys issued great clouds of 
smoke, silent witnesses to their prodigality. 


i66 


The Destroyers 


even at a time when they should be husband- 
ing every bit of strength for the battles yet 
to come. Within the homes the families sat 
In groups about the stoves, half-dressed, 
waiting for the morning meal, or stood or sat 
by the kitchen table, eagerly devouring 
everything in sight. Their ravenous appe- 
tites, whetted to a keen edge by weeks of 
semi-starvation, demanded immediate satis- 
faction, and received it. A call of the wild 
was answered; the animal towered above the 
man. 

The entire day, almost, was spent by them 
Indoors, nibbling and munching the many 
luxuries which had been provided. There 
was no regular dinner hour — only a break in 
the Irregular process of devouring when they 
were told that warm food had been prepared. 
Now and then one would drop in on his 
neighbor and aid in the general gluttony. 
Herein was the chief observance of the Christ- 
mas day; that on but few occasions was the 
strike a subject of converse, and even then but 
an incidental. Minds were not busy In the 
formation of plans to win; the blood could 
not be used by the brain when It was being so 
copiously supplied to the stomach in an ef- 
fort to rid that hard-worked organ of too 


The Destroyers 


167 


many duties. For one day, at least, the ears 
of the walls heard no vile epithets hurled at 
Steele ; nor any words of thankfulness for the 
kindness of those who had given some small 
bits of happiness to Christmas day. 

The joyous ringing of the church bells 
called but few of them to houses of worship, 
and this few lived during services only in 
anticipation of the meal which would await 
their coming at noon. Only those who have 
suffered keenly the pangs of hunger, whose 
faces have been drawn and pinched in want, 
whose bodies have felt the sharp, stinging 
pain, as of claws being buried in the flesh, 
who have known hours of wakefulness when 
the mind was dull but sleep came not because 
of hunger — only those who have thus suffered 
may know the feelings of the miners on that 
Christmas day. Even the children, for whom 
there had been no Santa Claus, cared not so 
much for that loss as for the gain their bodies 
were enjoying. It is a pitiful sight, a man 
suffering for want of food and other com- 
forts; but infinitely more to be pitied is the 
prematurely aged face of the child in want, 
with its lack of color, its listless, drooping 
eyes, its heavy wrinkles across the forehead 


i68 


The Destroyers 


and beneath the eyes, its hollow cheeks and 
long, thin fingers. 

At the dinner table in the Spencer home 
was a small group of genial ones, if not in 
spirit quite congenial. Spencer and his wife, 
whose beauty had not faded with the years, 
acted as hosts. Canby and Miss Bert were 
there, as also Kinney and Miss Thurston, the 
group completed by the presence of Steele at 
the side of Miss Markham. The first topic, 
and the one of leading discussion, was the 
question of the unknown donor to the public 
contribution. To Canby, with his innate 
romantic instincts, it made the beginning 
for a “good story.” He looked at it 
almost purely from that standpoint and 
wove about the centerpiece a thrilling fabric 
of mystery, colored more fantastically, more 
warmly, than even was an oriental cloth. 
To Kinney it was largely a matter of 
indifference, since he was firmly convinced, 
only at a guess, shrewd as he thought 
it was, that Steele knew more about it than 
any one else. He did not express himself in 
that wise at the dinner because he knew that 
this would spoil the future effects, if true. 
Unlike Canby, he was not of the imaginative ; 
he could not weave a story about a centerpiece 


The Destroyers 


169 


without the actual materials with which to do 
the work. Analytic rather than synthetic, he 
could more easily trace a thread through a 
finished pattern to its beginning. 

Edith was of mixed opinions. She pos- 
sessed more than the proverbial instincts of a 
woman — she was open to conviction and read- 
ily considered reason. She had heard the 
statements of Steele — which produced her 
mixed opinions. The heart wished that she 
was right, while the mind saw the probability 
of her being wrong. 

Canby, more talkative than usual, and this 
is saying much, was allowed to hold the center 
while the subject of the donation was upper- 
most. The two young ladies outside the 
theater of war formed no opinions, and were, 
on that account, amused by the mystery with 
which Phil handled “the story.” 

“It is a glorious day for them,” brought in 
the hostess, “for they can realize now how 
the human heart is touched by their condition. 
Think of the hundreds that were given.” 

“They will gain little by it. In this day 
money is freely given to allay poverty but 
very little attention is devoted to devising 
means to prevent it,” replied Miss Mark- 
ham. 


The Destroyers 


170 

With only the casual glance of interest, but 
a tone which Kinney, Spencer, and Miss 
Markham knew, Steele asked, 

“May I ask how?” 

The tone of the challenge and the quiet, 
reserved, forceful manner in which it was put 
brought to her mind the constructions which 
might be placed on what she said; a pallor 
for an instant dashed helplessly across her 
face, followed by a flush, and there was a per- 
ceptible hesitancy in her reply : 

“Should hunger be felt by these men if they 
had saved for a rainy day? Can one eat his 
bread and always have the loaf? Will this 
be a lesson for the miners in the future? 
When they go back to work, as surely they 
some time must, will they put aside a part of 
their earnings for another such contingency?” 

Still the reserved tone of challenge : 

“And the other side?” 

“I have not mentioned any other side.” 

“There is one, though?” 

“Perhaps; but only because all questions 
are supposed to have two sides.” She was 
parrying his thrusts, and he recognized more 
than ever the skill of this swords-woman. 
Spencer pricked his attention at this passage. 


The Destroyers 


171 

and nodded knowingly as he saw his ward re- 
treat, her blade on guard, but moving back. 

From this the conversation drifted quickly 
to the strike and its possible conclusion. 

“Do you think the military will be here for 
long. Captain Kinney?” Miss Thurston was 
showing evidence of much interest in this 
direction. 

“That depends upon the Governor.” 

“But we are having no trouble now. 
Everything is quiet as a mouse,” ventured 
Miss Bert. 

“Perhaps the mouse is munching quietly on 
a good morsel of cheese.” Kinney was 
metaphorical. 

“Or perhaps the mouse is wearied with try- 
ing to get through the bars of a trap.” Steele 
showed his deftness with the figure. 

The older gentleman was not to be beaten. 

“Or it may be that the mouse is waiting for 
the house to get quiet so it may gnaw through 
the floor.” 

And Miss Bert, not thinking of the irrele- 
vancy, laughed: 

“I can’t see why you are playing so with 
my mention of the mouse. I think they are 
just darling. I am not a bit afraid of them, 


172 


The Destroyers 


no matter what the funny papers say.” 
Which brought a general laugh. 

“But when do you think the Governor will 
recall you, Captain?” queried the hostess. 
“The conditions certainly seem favorable.” 

“Conditions are worse than before the 
military came, Mrs. Spencer,” answered 
Steele, not waiting for Kinney. “Not because 
the military is here, you understand, but be- 
cause the fight is lasting so long and neither 
side has shown any sign of relenting.” 

“But one side must relent.” 

“So it will in time.” 

“Is there no way to force a settlement?” 

“None but the arbitrament of war. We 
have not yet come to that millenium when 
arbitration and conciliation are the arms 
employed. We must use the weapons of the 
primeval and let the fittest be the survivors.” 

“There is a State board of arbitration.” 
Mrs. Spencer said this exultantly. 

“Which has no power,” answered Steele. 
“It may reach a decision after hearing both 
sides, but the decision does not need be 
accepted.” 

“Cannot suit be brought for violation of 
contract?” 

“That would be of no account; the union 


The Destroyers 


173 


is not incorporated, it is not a body which can 
be sued and held for judgment. This is one 
of the weakest points in the union, when it 
could be made the strongest, the pivotal point. 
Let the union incorporate ; let it become really 
responsible for its members; let the body 
stand ready to bear the wrongs which its 
members, as representatives of that body, 
commit; let it stand square before the law 
with the property-holding employer. Then 
will the union flourish and grow strong; then 
will it stand for something tangible in the eyes 
of employers, and its contracts will be valid. 
When the union incorporates I believe indus- 
trial war will almost cease.” 

“Suppose we were recalled, would you get 
an injunction to restrain them from doing 
damage by keeping them a distance from your 
property?” asked Kinney. 

“Then Brandon should get an injunction 
to prohibit their hurling rocks at him and at 
his press ; Mr. Spencer should have one issued 
to restrain them from throwing bricks 
through his doors.” This was Steele’s sur- 
prising reply. 

“But those may be called incidental or 
accidental cases, may they not?” asked Miss 
Markham, coming again into the discussion. 


174 


The Destroyers 


“ril grant that for a moment, and answer 
the question by saying that I would not ask 
for an injunction, because I believe it should 
be absolutely the last resort. The injunction 
has not been treated rightly. I deem it at 
times almost as unfair as the boycott. There 
are times when the injunction serves its pur- 
pose rightfully, but the cases are rare. Some 
employers have been too anxious to hurry to 
court for injunctions, and judges have 
been too willing to grant them. As a 
perfectly natural consequence the great body 
of workmen have come to be suspicious of 
the courts and their judges; have formed the 
idea that courts are unfavorable to them and 
prejudiced on the side of capital. It is too 
bad this is true, but the fact remains, never- 
theless. It is the basis upon which the 
walking delegates and grafting leaders build 
their excuses for the union’s not incor- 
porating. They recognize the opportunity 
'for causing the body of workmen to distrust 
all courts of law, and the laborers see no 
farther than the mesh which the grafters 
draw about them.” 

“Is there no way to make the workmen see 
that?” Miss Markham was taking much 
interest. 


The Destroyers 


175 


“Only reformation. Labor is in need of a 
great teacher, a real reformer, one who is not 
radical but thoughtfully logical. It has 
gained all it can at present. Think of what 
it may gain by coming before the law on a 
par with the property-holding employer, 
fighting its battles for justice openly and 
squarely.” 

“Why do you say the union has gained all 
it can at present?” 

“Because it has fulfilled the purpose of its 
organization. It has obtained the eight-hour 
working-day, which is an excellent thing; it 
has obtained better wages and better modes 
of life for its members.” 

“All through the strike.” She was coming 
at him again with a ready blade and this 
thrust was made with a show of accuracy. 

“Yes, like early popes obtained converts by 
the sword. Times have changed since then.” 

“You believe the sword is useless now?” 

“Excepting as one of the final resorts, yes. 
The victories of peace, of arbitration and 
conciliation are far more powerful.” 

“Why more powerful?” 

“Because when a mind is convinced all is 
won. But a body is always ready to fight 
when there is no conviction in the mind.” 


176 


The Destroyers 


As much as he delighted to hear these two 
quick-minded, sharp-tongued young people 
playing skillfully against each other, the old 
banker feared it would lead too far, and, 
more, he had a thought for those to whom 
such conversation is of lesser interest. It was 
at this point that he veered the trend of table 
talk in another direction. Perhaps it was the 
best; Steele had seen whither he was drifting 
and had fought gracefully against the current. 
Edith was anxious to learn several other 
points in the warfare in which Steele was 
such a predominant figure, and with that end 
in mind had employed her best skill. Only 
to a limited extent did she think she had 
succeeded, for he had evaded her even in the 
directness of his reply. For a moment she 
wondered if he had really intended to be 
evasive, leading her where she could not ask 
the questions she so much desired answered, 
or whether he had been as honest in his inten- 
tions as he appeared in his replies. That he 
was perfectly direct in his manner she could 
not deny to herself, but she doubted the 
honesty with which he spoke ; not that she had 
any doubts as to the sincerity of expression, 
but she realized how she had been tricked 
away from the main point to some minor, 


The Destroyers 


177 


more indirect, more general argument. In 
order to get back again she had been forced 
into the embarrassing position of asking 
questions which were clearly out of tune. 

After dinner, when the men had enjoyed 
their cigars, the party was divided into groups 
of two, each finding some nook or corner 
where conversation would not be so general. 
Mr. and Mrs. Spencer found the music-room 
to their liking, where she played while he sat 
by the window over-looking a portion of the 
city, ruminating, possibly over Christmas 
days of the past, or, mayhap, studying over 
the strained situation then existing, to which 
he saw no solution. Steele was a young man 
of strength, a power among coal operators, 
tactful, diplomatic, a natural general in the 
handling of all his forces ; a creator of forces 
at times if none could be found with which 
to work. They had been good friends, this 
young man and the banker, yet Spencer knew 
well enough how little satisfaction he would 
obtain by attempting to use this as a wedge to 
open the secret chamber of Steele’s plans. 
That he had deep plans, and that they were 
well laid, Spencer had not the slightest doubt ; 
every evidence was visible. He realized how 
successful had been the play for popularity, 
12 


178 


The Destroyers 


though he did not know the details of that 
part of the drama; there are men behind the 
scenes who are just as important to the pro- 
duction as those whose names appear on the 
program. 

Property values had not as yet been 
seriously affected by the strike, a fact which 
caused the banker to offer thanks ; but he saw 
a dark cloud hovering closely above them if 
matters were not amicably settled before 
spring. Where rentals are affected so, too, 
are property values. At the present time 
there was no cry about rents, but it was 
certain to come at the break of winter. Real 
estate men had not been able to make good 
collections for several months, and until now 
they had waited patiently for work to be 
resumed. However, there was one safety 
valve: the fact that many of the horpes of 
union miners were owned by the young 
operator himself! The question which now 
rose was whether Steele would force the pay- 
ment of rent, evicting the occupants in event 
of their failure to pay; and fail they surely 
would at the present rate. Should he do this 
there would be several hundred families 
thrown out of homes, thus creating a demand 
of such character as not to raise rental values, 


Tke Destroyers 


179 


even though the supply was short. Spencer 
felt secure in belief that such a condition 
would not be produced. Clearly he saw that 
Steele could not afford to joepard his own 
popularity by evicting the miners, especially 
when the eviction would net him no returns. 
There were the negroes — ^but the banker had 
told Steele they would not long remain in 
Fenton; Spencer was firmly convinced there 
would be a settlement which would send the 
aliens away. 

In the library, on the big divan near 
the arras-covered doors which led to the con- 
servatory, sat Steele and Edith. They had 
continued, in a more general and impersonal 
way, the conversation on the strike. The 
subject was not suitable to him at such a time. 
Strikes and miners and unions and negroes 
could be talked of some other time; there 
were things nearer him than these. 

“Edith, why can’t you give me some satis- 
faction?” 

“And thereby lose my attractiveness?” 
laughingly, questioningly, coquettishly. 

“But you know better than that. You will 
always be attractive to me. I think you are 
placing a poor estimate on me.” 

“To which I would answer the same. I 


i8o The Destroyers 

do love you” — he leaned forward to gaze 
directly at her, his face aglow — “a little, to- 
day ; but I may not to-morrow. Do you think 
you can win my love by simply asking me? 
Wouldn’t that be awfully cheap? Obtaining 
it so cheaply, would you always care?” 

His head went up and back in his 
customary gesture of argument, the gesture 
of one who is thinking hard and realizes a 
point must be scored quickly. 

“Have I appeared to you as one who 
flutters here and there, like a butterfly, staying 
only for the moment?” 

“N — no — it is not that. I am afraid you 
are much stronger than I. You are so master- 
ful, so compelling. I like you — I admire you 
ever so much because you are so big and so 
strong. I feel proud when I hear friends tell 
how you have made others bend before you 
by sheer force of character. And yet I am 
afraid to love you.” 

“Why afraid?” 

“Oh — I am afraid that maybe some time 
you would find you did not care for me longer, 
and I would never know it. You would hide 
yourself behind a mask and pretend to care 
the same, because I was your wife. I could 


The Destroyers 1 8 1 

never bear that. The very thought would 
kill me by its humiliation.” 

“Edith!” Both her hands were in his. 
“Little girl, don’t even think such a thing.” 

“But I do think such a thing. You know 
you would never tell me. You would go on 
with the routine of life and never let me 
know. Why, even now, what proof have I 
that you really love me and that it will last? 
You only tell me so.” 

“What else can I do?” 

“Lots, Tom; lots of things. “Tom,” — 
she hesitated over the use of the name, — “I 
want you — ” 

“Hello I By Jove, we have been wondering 
where you had gone,” cried Kinney right 
merrily as he entered with Miss Thurston. A 
scowl darkened the face of Steele for a 
moment, then vanished, and he joined in the 
light talk as happily as any. 


CHAPTER XII 


The week passed uneventfully away. New 
Year’s day dawned much as had Christmas, 
much as had any day of the past fortnight. 
The land was firmly in the embrace of 
winter; not even the bright smile of the sun 
could force a relaxation, and the great heaps 
of snow, driven by strong winds during the 
storm, remained unchanged, save for the gray 
covering of smoke, with polka dots of soot. 
All week the miners enjoyed themselves as on 
Christmas, the only notable exception being 
that they came down in groups to the business 
section, gathering in threes and fours about 
some huge stove, dull red with heat, warming 
through while they talked of the strike and 
the plans by which it might be ended. There 
is much philosophy developed, and highly 
erudite schools of thought — moral, ethical 
and logical — are reared and grow in such 
environment. There was a day, in fact, there 
is a day, and it seems destined to live many, 
many years, when the sage thinkers of the 
community gather in the dull, chill days about 
the stove, discussing not alone the nearest 


The Destroyers 


183 

matters of neighborhood gossip, but the 
broader, grander subjects of national and 
international interest. The barrel-head 
philosopher is not a man of the past; he lives 
to-day and discourses quite as learnedly as did 
he in our fathers’ childhood. We have not to 
look for him in rural districts always, for his 
ways have altered with the onward rush of 
civilization; mayhap we can find him even at 
the head of some widely read paper, if we but 
search. He has yet the same wise saws, the 
same self-confidence, and though he may not 
be juggling a heavy quid in his mouth and 
emphasizing his remarks by a seventeen-foot- 
six-inch expectoration at a distant, ash-filled 
box, he is about as potent as ever he was. 

Such groups formed each cold evening in 
the stores of Fenton, though it must be said 
that those radically varying opinions were 
not to be found in the same gatherings. This 
would destroy the principle upon which the 
groups were formed. There were not many 
places where the miners found a reception. 
The merchants had stood by the miners on 
previous occasions and had learned it was not 
to their gain. The laborers proved ungrate- 
ful for past favors. Merchants who had 
enjoyed the trade of miners gladly gave them 


The Destroyers 


184 

aid in every possible way in the last strike; 
great wagon loads of provisions had been 
sent to their hall for distribution, and 
pecuniary aid had come in large donations 
even before a call could be made upon the 
regular union fund for strikers — the “com- 
missary.” The miners enjoyed that last 
strike in ease and comfort and won it because 
public opinion was so strongly entrenched 
against their enemies, the operators. But 
times had changed. The clerks of the retail 
business houses formed an organization which 
they termed “union.” Its basic principles, as 
laid down in the constitution and by-laws, 
were excellent. Everything was to be done 
to better the condition of the employee, and 
at the same time, presumably, the employer. 
At any rate, the clerks decided they did not 
wish to work after six o’clock in the evening, 
save during the months of December, 
January and February; and they further 
decided that it would be best for the 
employers to close the stores also at this time. 
This is probably where they were considering 
the good of the employer. However, the 
merchants of Fenton did not grow enthu- 
siastic over the idea ; there were divers 
reasons, each merchant having his own. But 


The Destroyers 


185 

the clerks would not listen to argument. 
They were backed by the miners’ union, the 
all-powerful organization which had defeated 
the capital-entrenched operators, and they 
realized what a club they could wield. One 
by one the merchants were forced to fall into 
line. This condition lasted for a short period, 
and the business-men, unable to stand it 
longer, resolved to open their stores. It was 
not by concerted action; the more fearless 
ones opened first. It so happened that these 
men were the very ones who had given the 
greatest aid to the miners in the last strike. 
But gratitude had flown. Unionism must be 
respected, no matter what humanity had done 
for humanity’s sake at another time! The 
miners’ union condemned the action of the 
merchants who now kept their stores open 
after the accepted union time, and refused to 
give their trade. Gradually all the merchants 
opened their places of business, arguing that 
merchants could do about as they pleased in 
the matter, since miners had to trade some- 
where. 

At that time the miners were enjoying full 
time and their incomes were large. When 
the merchants reached their decisions to keep 
open and to hire as clerks whomsoever they 


i86 


The Destroyers 


wished, the union miners began to buy their 
provisions by mail order from the larger 
cities. This was their happy thought; the 
merchants must be taught a game worth two 
of their own. It worked successfully for a 
short while; just about the time it was in full 
swing, when the miners were laughing at the 
expense of local dealers, came the closing of 
the Fenton mines for repairs, and the conse- 
quent strike. 

Thus it may be seen how public opinion 
changed in the beginning to favor Steele. 
This Steele had known, and had counted it 
as one of the large quantities in the mathe- 
matics of the strike. 

The cold snap broke, or began to break, on 
the day following New Year’s. The wind 
which had been from the northwest turned 
eastward, and the thaw commenced. In three 
days there was not a vestige of snow to tell 
the tale of the storm; only gutters running 
over, roads of mud and slush, with trees and 
eaves a-drip. 

On the fifteenth of January the Governor 
recalled the militia. So far as he could see 
its need in Fenton was gone. Steele talked 
with him for several hours over the long- 
distance at various intervals, attempting to 


The Destroyers 


187 


hold the soldiers on the ground, since the 
miners were apt at any moment to repeat their 
previous performances. But the Governor 
was firm. He informed Steele that he had 
received authentic information to the effect 
that the military was no longer needed, that 
the miners were no less than law-abiding 
citizens of the community; further, he said 
the State and county were paying large sums 
for the expense of the soldiers at a time when 
it appeared there was no need; he would 
gladly send them back if conditions 
demanded ; life and property surely could not 
be in danger from American citizens, even 
though these American citizens were mostly 
naturalized foreigners of recent date. It was 
useless. 

What could there be behind it? Was the 
Governor — ah! Could it be that he was 
playing for another term? Or, was it Con- 
gress ? 

The military received orders to “break” 
on the following day. Kinney called on 
Colonel Mellett and obtained permission to 
send his command home under the first lieu- 
tenant, for himself planning a stay of a while 
in Fenton. 

On the day of the soldiers’ departure 


i88 


The Destroyers 


Fenton was In a furore. The miners were 
hilarious over their victory, and were enjoying 
it by visiting every saloon. Their friends, 
and it cannot be gainsaid they had several 
hundred, joined with them in celebration of 
the great triumph. At last Tom Steele was 
beaten! The Governor was with labor! 
Hurrah for the Governor! They would go 
to the polls in a body for his re-election, 
should he run ! On the other hand the 
merchants and others who were not in favor 
of the miners’ contention, were sorely struck 
at the turn of affairs. They sent telegrams to 
the Chief Executive pleading that he recon- 
sider the recall, but they had no effect. That 
night was a memorable one in the history of 
Fenton. It was a night of orgies, of drunken 
brawls and fights, of wild hilarity, unbridled, 
unchecked. 

Spencer, desirous of having a talk with the 
young operator in the privacy of his own 
home, telephoned an invitation to dinner at 
six, which was at once accepted. Steele may 
have wished to talk with the banker about the 
new conditions — or Jie may not. Before 
dinner the two were closeted in the library 
discussing, in various ways, and from different 
standpoints, the newly established order. As 


The Destroyers 


189 


ever, Spencer was anxious to draw his plans 
from Steele, but he, wary always, dodging 
neatly at the slightest move antagonistic, did 
not disclose a single plan. When on the 
defense he had recourse to ambiguous figures 
of speech, neat turns of words by which the 
listener may infer what he desires; by that 
means he turned aside every effort of the older 
man to learn anything which had a direct 
bearing on the situation. Spencer was at first 
of the opinion that the recall of the militia 
was at the behest of Steele. This was 
denied, and if he did not believe the denial 
the banker certainly saw the truth of it in this 
conversation. He was left to infer what he 
pleased as to the reasons which had prompted 
the Governor in his action ; at least Steele did 
not unfold to him any of the deductions he 
had made in the hours since the question had 
first risen in his mind. 

One of the singularities in connection with 
their conferences was the fact that he had 
rarely let the banker know any of his ideas, 
his convictions, and less of his plans. At the 
same time he willingly told more at the 
dining-table with others present. Until this 
evening the banker had not noticed this 
feature, but it was so palpably evident that 


190 


The Destroyers 


he could not but make note of it. They had 
been at the table several moments, conversing 
on topics of general interest. 

“What was the Governor’s reason for 
recalling the soldiers, Mr. Steele?” queried 
Mrs. Spencer. 

“That I cannot say,” he replied. “The 
Governor is surely acting contrary to popular 
opinion in the matter; many telegrams have 
been sent to him during the day asking that 
he reconsider. To some he answered that 
it is impossible for him to understand the 
value of the military in a place which is so 
quiet, while to others he has made absolutely 
no reply. The general effect will be harmful, 
speaking, you understand, from my own view 
of matters.” 

“Do you think they will be sent back 
here?” 

“Certainly,” with an air of supremest 
confidence. “They will be needed as they 
were a few weeks ago to quell disturbances. 
These men think they have gained a 
victory. So they have ; but they have 
not the force of character to handle their 
victory delicately. They will plunge, as they 
are doing to-night, into revels so intemperate 
that they will ruin their own good fortune; 


The Destroyers 


191 

they will attempt to bully the city into believ- 
ing they are absolute masters of the place, and 
will bring upon themselves the condemnation 
of many of their own staunch friends. They 
do not know how to treat the advantage they 
have gained.” 

“Why do you speak in such certain terms?” 
inquired Miss Markham. 

“My answer must be at length in order to 
explain. The miners belong to a great class, 
numerically, the industrial caste, if I may be 
permitted to use the expression, members of 
that body which is daily growing more distant 
from the employers, the other caste. In these 
days, when there is such concentration of 
wealth in the hands of a few, when business 
management has become of such magnitude 
that the system is inexorable in its exactness, 
when those who hold positions of managerial 
capacity, and therefore the real directors, the 
heads of the business, are growing fewer as 
concentration grows greater, the workmen, 
the industrial class, get farther and farther 
from the pecuniary side of the business and 
therefore are not enabled to understand the 
profits and losses, the advantages and disad- 
vantages of certain turns in that business. 
This is rapidly getting to be the fact in all 


192 


The Destroyers 


lines of large industrial practice. Only a few 
years ago the average workman looked for- 
ward to the time when he would be in business 
for himself. How often to-day is that kind 
of an employee found? I’ll warrant that if 
you go out among the clerks of the city, the 
employees in any line of business, you will find 
but a few who expect to some day own their 
places of business, who plan for that end. 
This very fact has caused a widening of the 
breach between the employer and the 
employed. The workmen care only for them- 
selves. They do not observe the employers’ 
side of business, but rather look at matters 
completely and persistently from their own 
side. They know nothing of the manner in 
which the business in conducted; they nurse 
the idea that the employer is wealth-ridden 
and is nightly studying out plans whereby he 
will rob his employees of more money on the 
following day. This is pessimistic, if you 
wish to call it so; but it is a real fact. I have 
studied the labor situation as few other men 
in my position have ever done, and my 
examples are drawn from all parts of the 
world. My conclusions may be wrong, but 
the facts are facts — they are indisputable.” 


The Destroyers 193 

“Do you think these men have no respect 
for property?” 

“That is exactly the point I would make — 
they have absolutely no respect for property. 
They are not property owners, never have 
been, and do not expect to be. Their living 
is little better than hand to mouth. When 
plenty is in the hand they devour it; when 
little, they find fault with the source from 
which the last supply came. They come to 
believe that all owners of property are 
against them, that there is really a war of 
capital against labor. The attitude, you can 
readily understand, is wholly wrong. What 
would capital do without labor? What would 
labor do without capital ? One must give aid 
to the other. The employer must look to 
the needs of his men ; he should observe their 
manner of living and do what he may to 
better conditions ; his works should be health- 
ful and sanitary, and his wages living wages. 
At the same time the employee must have an 
eye to the benefit of his employer, for that is 
the source of his labor. In most cases the 
employer is attending to his side of the case ; 
the trouble lies with the workmen. Each day 
they are paying less and less heed to the 
methods of capital, getting farther from the 
13 


194 


The Destroyers 


real business side of their work. This widen- 
ing of a self-imposed breach is the foundation 
of the radical socialism which is demanding a 
division of the world’s goods, as if all men 
will always remain equal after being once 
declared so.” 

“Do you hold property rights above 
human rights?” asked the banker. 

“Not at all. Human rights are the 
foundation upon which the rights of property 
are built. Fundamentally, labor is the pro- 
ducer of capital, and, therefore, the laborer 
stands higher and is to be given more con- 
sideration than that which he produces. His 
rights are human rights and are above 
property. But these men have cast aside their 
human rights. They have set aside the 
chance to earn their bread. Must they come 
to my place and take from me what I have 
set aside, my property?” 

“And you argue that you wish to run your 
business as you see fit?” Miss Markham 
smiled. 

“Indeed, yes. But that does not class as a 
property right; it is to be counted among the 
human rights. I argue that the workman has 
a perfect right to sell his labor to whomso- 
ever he desires; it is his to do with as he 


The Destroyers 195 

chooses. It is his part to obtain the best price 
for that commodity. Should he not like the 
conditions under which he is laboring he 
should have the right to cease work. In like 
manner I have the right to hire whomsoever 
I desire, at the lowest price for which he will 
work. If I find him incompetent and 
destructful to my plant, I should have the 
right to dismiss him from my service. Under 
the old conditions this hiring of men was done 
individually; that is, the employer came into 
direct contact with each laborer, and indivi- 
dual contracts were made. The development 
of industry has caused the collective bargain, 
the trading of labor in the aggregate. The 
labor organization fixes a price for its work 
and presents it to the employer, who rejects 
or accepts. This is as it should be. The 
workman has been able to obtain better prices 
for his labor by this collective action, and has 
bettered his condition financially. But 
suppose the union allows a man to become a 
member, who is not competent, who is a 
drinker while at work, or who is not watchful 
of the details surrounded by danger. Have I 
not the right to dismiss such a man from my 
employ? Must I joepardize the lives of other 
workmen and joepardize my property because 


196 


The Destroyers 


the union says I shall recognize and employ 
every man it dictates? May I not close my 
business for a time to make necessary repairs, 
to put my place in better condition, without 
calling upon myself the condemnation of the 
workmen and a strike in addition?” 

“What would be your remedy?” 

“Just what I said before — let the union 
incorporate.” 

Steele and Edith drifted into the little 
alcove toward the conservatory, where they 
found a snug seat behind the palms. Little 
was said about the strike. Edith was a 
woman ; a woman is a fact, and facts are stub- 
born things. She did not know whether she 
loved Steele. She knew how much she valued 
his friendship because he was so different 
from other men. He was strong, purposeful, 
active; a man whom men loved because they 
could depend upon him ; whom children 
loved because he was kind to them and 
gentle. They called him “Uncle Tom” and 
were glad to run to him when he came their 
way. A man loved by children is not a bad 
man. He has a heart that beats with theirs, 
and a child’s heart beats true. If a man win 
another’s friendship and admiration purely 
because he merits them, he is worth the know- 


The Destroyers 


197 


ing. There is something in him that is good. 
Edith thought of this now, but, but — was it 
not only fascination for this man who was so 
strong, so big and so resourceful, who forced 
the world to his feet with his powerful grip ? 
Could she really love him with that whole- 
heartedness with which she had always 
thought she must love when she met the right 
man? 

As he was going Steele realized he was no 
nearer than he had been for days past. He 
loved her devotedly, he told her so, and only 
received the same replies. 

“And now you say I shall not see you for 
several days, that you are going away?” 

“Yes, I must leave for a while. To the 
capital first to see the Governor. The rest 
I shall plan later.” 

“Why are you going to see the Governor? 
To bring the troops back?” 

“Yes. I must have protection. I think 
he has been bullied into this action, and I am 
going to show him the folly of it. I think 
he is playing for re-election.” 

“If he is—” 

“If he refuses to send the militia back he 
will never be Governor. He will have spaded 
up his own political grave.” 


CHAPTER XIII 


Philip Glenn was a politician; not a 
thorough one, perhaps, because he was not 
born so, and politicians are born, not made. 
Glenn was a made politician; not self-made, 
nor machine-made, but, rather, made by 
circumstances. He loved power, though him- 
self not powerful, and therefore wielded his 
scepter with an awkward hand. Ten years in 
the active political arena of the State, as a 
legislator in both houses, had brought him to 
the notice of the powers behind the throne, 
and by a hitch in the convention, which 
resembled a deadlock, he was made the 
nominee of the party — at that time dominant 
in the State. By this it must not be inferred 
that his position was accidental; he had been 
frequently mentioned for first place and, 
according to all plans, was to have second 
place on the ticket to Stratton, the candidate 
on whom the convention had deadlocked. 

Glenn’s college days at Yale had not been 
spent in the same set in which Steele after- 
ward moved, though they became acquainted 
in Steele’s first year, having hailed from the 


The Destroyers 


199 


same State. Thus it was that the strength 
of Steele’s county had been thrown to Glenn 
in the convention, at the same time defeating 
the aims of Stratton, a studied old politician, 
radical on all questions, and hailing from the 
south part of the State, a district discredited 
by the more astute and active men of the 
middle and northern sections. Since taking 
the gubernatorial chair Glenn had done noth- 
ing spectacular, a fact which pleased his 
friends; but it was distinctly plain to the 
coterie ever on the watch that he was playing 
a shrewd political game, unpracticed though 
he was. Twice had he stilled the stormy 
waters surging about the Federal Senators, 
and in such diplomatic fashion that he held 
the political friendship of each. So well was 
it done, and with so little of the play-to-the- 
grandstand show, that the public never gave 
thought to any question of his ambition. To 
those on. the inside it appeared that he was 
gathering strength for a race to the upper 
house of Congress, and once accepted in that 
way he made no move to controvert the idea. 

This in explanation to the query which 
rose in Steele’s mind. It seemed rather a 
peculiar thing for Glenn to do if he were 
playing for the Senate. The vested interests 


200 


The Destroyers 


were the powers with which to consult, the 
friends to whom to cater; Steele was one of 
those powers in the State, a power whose 
strength had been tested and found to have 
in reserve a’ force which even the strongest 
and oldest political gladiators had feared. 
Passing through unexpected channels, lurking 
in silent places, emerging suddenly from some 
unnoticed spot, the Steele power had made 
itself a seriously distinctive feature in large 
politics. Mysterious, because unseen, rapid, 
strong, purposeful, it was feared. That 
Glenn should stand pat in the face of these 
facts caused Steele to pause for a moment ; but 
only for a moment. Such momentum as his 
could not be stayed for long, having, as it did, 
as it had exhibited, both speed and weight; 
and it only changed its direction enough to 
apply the attack at a suddenly-discovered, but, 
nevertheless, clearly visible weak spot. 

On the morning following the evacuation 
of the military Steele was on his way to the 
capital. There were three things which he 
could do under the new conditions, but the 
one which appealed to him was the boldest 
and at the same time the most powerful, con- 
sidered purely from the Steele point of view. 
At eleven o’clock he presented himself at the 


The Destroyers 


201 


outer room of the executive office and sent in 
his card by the private secretary, who, 
recognizing Steele, had come forward at 
once. He returned in a few minutes. 

“The Governor asks that you call to- 
morrow at nine.” 

“He is busy just now?” 

“Yes, very — with the Auditor.” 

“He lunches at twelve?” Steele consulted 
his watch, turning the stem, thus only display- 
ing nervousness. 

“At twelve, yes; and then — ” 

“Tell the Governor I shall see him at one 
to-day.” 

“But the—” 

“No ‘buts’ about it. Burr. Tell the Gov- 
ernor I shall see him at one.” 

There was determination in the quiet tone 
and Burr essayed no more. More he knew 
would have been useless for two reasons, one 
of which was that Steele was going rapidly 
down the corridor to the elevator. 

Precisely as the clock in the capitol tower 
struck one Steele entered the outer room and 
again was met by the private secretary. 

“It is impossible for the Governor to see 
you to-day, Mr. Steele.” 

“Tell the Governor, Burr, that I am not 


202 


The Destroyers 


caring a damn how impossible it is ; I am here 
to see him and the easiest way is to make it 
possible.” 

“But—” 

“And you may say that I am leaving here 
at three. He can stand off his present 
business for fifteen minutes.” 

Burr reluctantly entered the private office, 
and a few minutes later, followed by a tall, 
thin man, neatly but plainly dressed, he came 
out and motioned to the operator. 

“Hello, Glenn,” he said as he entered the 
room, the heavy door quickly closing behind 
him. “Sorry to have disturbed your business 
but I am in a hurry. Leaving this after- 
noon,” as he extended a hand across the big 
table, littered with papers. 

“Well, what is it, Steele? Militia, I 
suppose?” 

“Exactly. I want those soldiers in Fenton 
to protect life and property. There is no use 
in discussing the whys and wherefores. The 
situation is plain and I must have the soldiers 
immediately.” 

“I can’t do it, Steele. The expense is too 
great, and everything seems quiet enough.” 

“How do you know it is quiet?” 

“I have been getting reports from there.” 


The Destroyers 203 

“From Morley?” nodding toward the 
door. 

“Yes.’’ 

“Where does he get such excellent informa- 
tion, and why should you rely upon him?” 

“He speaks as if he just came from there.” 

“And you know better, Glenn. Morley 
has been right in this city for the past three 
weeks. You have seen him several times 
during the last week. What is your game?” 

“No game at all, sir ! I am thinking of the 
Auditor’s reports and the expense to that 
county.” The Governor flared in anger. 

“Rot, Glenn! The general understanding 
has gone through the State among the wise 
ones that you are after the Senate. In view 
of some of the conditions it was a good plan 
to say nothing and let them think what they 
would. But you are playing for re-election; 
I would suggest that you build some of your 
fences with different material. You are 
following the wrong train, Glenn, if you 
expect to win.” 

“Do you mean — ” 

“I mean that I came here to have the 
soldiers returned to Fenton to protect life and 
property. I don’t care a continental what 
Morley has been telling you, and less about 


204 The Destroyers 

the influence Morley and his gang may seem 
to have.” 

“But I cannot send them, Steele. Fenton 
is not running riot.” 

“Which is not saying anything about what 
Fenton will do if you show the white feather 
to those fellows. You would not recall the 
militia if you were after the Senate. You 
know that as well as I. Then why is your 
policy changed? For political strength in the 
election?” 

“I want you to understand that I am not 
doing this to gain political strength. I am 
here to serve the people.” 

“Then why the Devil don’t you do it?” 

“Who is Governor of this State?” hotly. 

“I have been trying to figure that out since 
yesterday,” Steele replied, smilingly, though 
it was plain the smile did not convey amuse- 
ment of the lighter vein. Glenn turned red 
with anger and half rose from the chair. 

“See here, Steele — ” 

“Hit home, did I? Now, Glenn, I am not 
here to twist the lion’s tail. I came here to 
show the lion how to be leonine. The peo- 
ple of this State look to you to aid them in 
their hour of need. Fenton is in need. I am 
here as the delegate of the people to ask that 


The Destroyers 


205 


you send the soldiers back there to give pro- 
tection. If you refuse, I shall let the people 
know that you have refused and I shall add 
a few things to lend color, things which you 
cannot and will not deny. Should anything 
happen in Fenton the people will blame you. 
You see your position.” 

“As I see the affair there is nothing to fear. 
Your negroes are well guarded within their 
barricades, like a lot of enemies to the State, 
waiting to break loose.” Glenn was fighting 
weakly from bay. 

“I am not thinking of my property or 
workmen. I tell you the place is in need of 
the soldiers. Hell is bound to break out.” 

“If I refuse?” 

“I have already told you enough.” 

“Well, Steele, I will not send them back.” 

“Very well, Glenn. On your head the con- 
sequences.” Steele rose and calmly, slowly, 
deliberately adjusted his gloves. “Next May 
is the convention. You are expecting to run 
for Governor. Send those soldiers or change 
your plans.” 

“Do you mean to say — ” 

“I mean to say that you will not be the 
nominee of the party. I mean to say that I 
shall be named for your position, if I wish it. 


2o6 


The Destroyers 


Send those soldiers in the next twelve hours 
and I withdraw.” 

“I shall not send them.” There was no 
show of strength or determination in the re- 
ply of the Governor. He said he would not 
send the military back, but it was weakly 
said. It sounded more like a man who was 
speaking in a dream, one who realized not 
what he said, but only followed the dictates 
of some unseen, unheard master. He was 
making a display to test this man, but had 
gone too far. 

“Then, by the gods, you will never be Gov- 
ernor, even if you send them now!” 

Before Glenn could make reply Steele had 
opened the door, passed out and was gone. 
The Governor stood transfixed in deep study. 
He awoke again, walked to the window’ and 
looked out upon the fading wintry scene. 
Not be Governor! Not be Governor of the 
greatest State in the Union ! Did Steele 
mean what he said? Would he really an- 
nounce for the head of the ticket? Steele, 
the power that had made and unmade men 
over the whole State within the past four 
years ; the power that had moved so silently, 
so swiftly; the power that had not yet met 
anything to check it; the power that had 


The Destroyers 


207 


placed him where he was; the power that 
had broken Stratton, the strongest politician 
the State had known in twenty years; the 
power that had dared, and always won. 
Vaguely Glenn remembered the elder Steele, 
but better, more intimately, did he know the 
history of politics since the younger man had 
taken the reins of the Steele interests. The 
four years past were dotted with the wrecks 
of men’s hopes, the derelicts of ambitions, 
made so by the relentless, awful storm which 
leaped from the mind of this younger Steele. 

But the unions, the laboring men? With 
them he would have strength enough to win 
easily ! They would stand by him solidly, to 
a man, for Morley had shown him the plan 
by which his name and the record of this and, 
possibly, other deeds would go before each 
and every meeting of the locals throughout 
the State. The plan was truly a good one 
and would make his name a favorite with 
the union men and their sympathizers. But, 
that is after the nomination ! He had not cal- 
culated upon opposition of any strength; yet 
here he was faced by the strongest and most 
relentless political power in the State. Be- 
tween the upper and nether millstones I With- 
out Steele’s support, or rather, with Steele’s 


2o8 


The Destroyers 


power against him, he could not hope to be 
the nominee of the party; should he accept 
the Steele proposition, and thereby win the 
nomination, he would be faced by a worse 
danger — defeat at the hands of the people! 
Here was a dilemma, but there were yet a few 
hours to decide. Steele could be placated, if 
it came to that. To work now so that he 
could get away early, get away for a bracing 
walk, and to think I 

Late evening found Thomas Steele in the 
far eastern portion of the State, in one of the 
favored coal districts, in conference with 
three of the operators. Rogers, a power in 
the State second only to Steele, and a man of 
great force of character, one who had won 
his way in the world against the most adverse 
conditions, listened intently to the plan of the 
younger man and promised his support. With 
this came the avowed support of the other 
two and a further statement from them that 
they would co-operate with Steele in making 
the plan unanimous among the coal men of 
the State and, if possible, of other States, es- 
pecially those to the east. 

On the next day Steele was in Fenton at- 
tending to the duties about his office, replying 
to a heavy mail which had stacked up since 


The Destroyers 


209 


the recall of the soldiers. Jones was a par- 
ticularly busy gentleman on that day, for 
Steele again had one of his strenuous spells 
and seemed wholly intent on finishing three 
days’ work in one. 

At noon there came a deputation of miners, 
representing the local union, asking for a con- 
ference with Steele. He was too busy at that 
hour to listen to anything which they might 
have to say, but would gladly give them a 
hearing in the evening at the hotel. The 
leader of the deputation, a burly fellow who 
did not bear a refined and cultured reputation, 
by any means, became rather surly at this. 

“I t’ought you was so anxious to have us 
go back to work wid you. We’re wantin’ to 
offer terms, if you’ll listen to ’em. We’re 
not goin’ to take much o’ yer valuable time.” 

“Yes? Well, did it occur to you that I 
knew that before you told me?” answered the 
operator with a sardonic smile. 

“Yuh needn’ hand back any o’ yer fancy 
talk. We got yuh where we want yuh now. 
Are yuh goin’ to listen to our terms?” 

“Yes, indeed; this evening at eight at the 
hotel.” 

“Well, we ain’t goin’ to wait.” This an- 
swer was supported by the nods of the other 
14 


210 


The Destroyers 


three of the committee, not one of whom had 
spoken a word. It was evident that Duggs 
was the self-appointed leader and it seemed 
highly probable that he named the others. 

“That is where you are mistaken, my 
friends. I said I was too busy to talk with 
you now. You will have to wait. If you 
mean you will not meet me at the hotel this 
evening, I can only say that I regret very 
much that the union has placed such an uncul- 
tured, unrefined, pudden-headed numbskull 
at the head of this committee, and also that if 
you do not meet me this evening to give me 
your terms you certainly will have no other 
chance. I have work to do; if you wish to 
meet me this evening, very well. If you get 
bull-headed you are doing it at your own loss. 
I am making pretty good money just now 
and filling all the orders coming my way. 
The mine looks busy, doesn’t it? You had 
better take my advice and be on hand to- 
night, though I would advise you to throw 
out that boozy cur-dog who is leading you 
now.” Steele turned again to his stenog- 
rapher, prepared to dictate. 

“Say, Steele!” Duggs was assuming a 
menacing air. The dignity of his position 
had been assailed; he must retaliate; he 


The Destroyers 


2II 


must show the men behind him the stuff of 
which he was made. Steele had not looked 
up and he spoke more loudly: 

“Say — we all know that yuh tried to bribe 
de Guv’nor. We’re wise, all right. Yuh c’n 
listen to us now or we’ll make it hot fer yuh, 
see? D’ yuh hear me?” 

The operator swung slowly about in his 
chair to face the man. His gray-blue eyes 
were smaller, his brow a little contracted, his 
mouth beginning to draw at the corners. To 
one who knew Steele it told of intense power 
concentrating. Those who had seen it once, 
and had known its fury, had never forgotten. 
His words were low-pitched and measured : 

“Duggs, I said I would see this committee 
to-night. That’s enough. If you do not 
leave this office quickly I’ll throw you out.” 

“T’row me out, eh?” roared the giant. 

“That’s it, precisely. Now, get out!” 
Steele quietly rose, walked about the desk 
toward the railing opening, but Duggs, led 
by his deputation, had reached the outer door. 

“We’ll make it hot fer you 1” and the four 
moved toward the gate of the barricade, 
where stood Farr and Canby, stationed there 
since the entrance of the committee. 

The gates closed, Canby came to the office 


212 The Destroyers 

at a signal from Steele, and left a few min- 
utes later. 

The Evening Press told the whole story 
under scare-heads precisely as it had hap- 
pened, adding an interview from Steele to the 
effect that he expected to meet the committee 
that evening, and that if it was not at the ap- 
pointed place on time it would be the last 
chance to offer terms. 

The effect was as anticipated. The com- 
mittee was on hand, led by another than 
Duggs. 

The miners offered to return to work on 
condition that the union was recognized 
throughout, and the price of digging and 
loading be fifty-five cents. Steele heard this 
quietly and then launched into the argument 
of his side of the case, saying that it was also 
theirs. He told them of the futility of press- 
ing the union upon him ; he would not recog- 
nize it because it was not an organized body 
which could stand by its contracts and agree- 
ments, but a crowd of men having a meeting- 
place, paying in a certain percentage of money 
when at work for the purpose of supporting 
others on strike, as well as a number of offi- 
cials who did little else than foment trouble 
in order to keep up the appearances of their 


The Destroyers 


213 


positions; the union should look as much to 
the welfare of the employer as to that of the 
employee ; capital and labor should not be at 
war, but always working together; this 
could be reached only by the union’s becom- 
ing a corporation, something tangible which 
could be held in court and which could, in 
turn, enforce the terms of any contracts. He 
went through the history of the union, the 
great work it had done and the still greater 
work which lay before it. He brought to 
view the many weak points, and closed by 
telling the committee again that he would 
not think of recognition under the present 
conditions; that he was ready to fight to the 
last ditch for his right to operate his business 
under the laws of the State as he saw fit. 

The deputation listened intently through- 
out the argument. He was quiet and force- 
ful, and so good-natured that they were at- 
tracted as never before by the man. They 
had never met him as host, but always in the 
mine office as the purely business man. His 
affability and the rarely pleasant smile and 
word of cheer as he offered cigars made them 
to see him as something other than the grind- 
ing, greedy, hoggish capitalist. 

“It does not seem, gentlemen, that we shall 


214 


The Destroyers 


be able to have any conciliation. You are cer- 
tain that you are in the right, I suppose. You 
have not been trained to look at the business 
frora anything other than the standpoint of a 
miner, an employee, one who has long been 
taught the fallacy that the operator is trying 
to crush labor beneath a cross of gold. 
There is the great evil in the present-day sit- 
uation. We have drifted too far apart, labor 
and capital have come to look upon each other 
as enemies rather than friends, and now when 
capital is attempting to bridge a chasm you 
are the obstacles which hinder the work. I do 
not intend to be personal; when I speak of 
‘you’ I mean the entire body of miners, of 
employees. I am friendly to labor. My 
capital is worth little to me wtihout labor, 
which it must purchase in order to give me 
returns. Therefore it is expedient that I 
should be friendly to labor. But I do not 
wish labor to attempt in any way to indicate 
how I shall run my business. We have laws 
in the State which tell the employer of miners 
how he shall operate his works. If he vio- 
lates these laws, let the right authorities act. 

“There is a remedy for this evil and that 
remedy I propose to find, or I shall leave a 
mass of wreckage behind me to warn the 


The Destroyers 


215 


next mariner from the shoals that I have 
struck. On the other hand, if I find the real 
remedy you will be among the first to con- 
gratulate me and to tell me of the greatness 
of the work which I shall have done. I like 
the unions, and I must repeat that they have 
done an inestimable good. But they are go- 
ing too far in the wrong direction. They 
should incorporate to begin with. Follow- 
ing that let us work together to formulate an 
enactment which shall make arbitration com- 
pulsory. At the present time we may accept 
the decisions of the arbitrators or not as we 
desire. Then, what is the advantage of our 
present arbitration? New Zealand has it 
compulsory; why shall we not be as progres- 
sive as they, and thus do away with most of 
the industrial trouble? 

“In a strike of this kind we are both apt to 
do things that are wrong. It is a sort of sur- 
vival of the fittest game, though we do not 
carry the fight to the end. One of us gives 
in before his resources are quite expended, 
only guessing what the enemy has in store. 
To-night you are here to conciliate with me, 
and instead of making any concessions you 
are making increased demands. Do you 
think, as men with good common sense, that 


2i6 


The Destroyers 


I am going to accept? Most certainly not. 
Neither would you were you placed in my po- 
sition.’’ 

“You mean, then, Mr. Steele,” said the 
spokesman, “that you are going to continue 
this fight, even though we ask for a settle- 
ment?” 

“Exactly, if this be the settlement you are 
asking. I intend to pay you a price which I 
think is right, and just now the union scale 
must be right, for it is the scale which your 
representatives signed with the operators at 
the last meeting, and which was supposed to 
have been a contract. Just now I will not 
stand any raise. I intend to allow the work- 
men in my mines to belong to the union or not 
as they please. I intend that when anything 
goes wrong in the mines the men shall not 
come up to my office at any time of day with 
their grievances and be paid full time by me 
for doing it. I pay men to inspect the mines, 
to see that every piece of machinery is in 
order, to see to the ventilation, to look for gas 
and for incompetent workmen. I fully in- 
tend to run my place as best suits me, as I 
have been running it; to have my men on 
friendly terms with me, to pay them off in 
cash at the proper time, and pay them the 


The Destroyers 


217 


best possible wage I may without cutting my 
profits below what the invested money should 
make. The laws of the State say what shall 
be the age-limit of the workmen and what 
precautions shall be taken about the mines. 
Let the weighman be a man I may trust, 
.whether he belongs to a union or not. If he 
is not a union man, and you wish to be repre- 
sented by a union workman, let the local 
union pay that man from its own funds. 
These things I demand and these things I am 
going to have before another man enters 
those mines to take the places of the ne- 
groes.” 

With this the meeting seemed to be at an 
end, so far as Steele was concerned. Slowly 
the others found their hats and left the room, 
Steele following to the office, where he met 
Canby. Here the operator and Phil spoke 
for a moment, and Canby hurried out while 
Steele took a seat in the lobby of the hotel 
and picked up a paper. 

Bang! came a shot from some point close 
in front of the hotel, and the operator was at 
the window with a bound. A crowd of miners 
stood in the center of the street; on the far- 
ther side were three men, above whom the 
smoke of a revolver hung. Steele watched 


2i8 


The Destroyers 


the one in the middle and marked him by the 
red muffler which he wore loosely about his 
neck. Who was shot? That was the ques- 
tion. Something whispered to him that — 

Through the door he hurried, around the 
crowd, now growing larger, and was the first 
to bend over the limp form of Phil Canby I 

“Phil, old boy I Phil!” But there was no 
response. With one hand Steele felt for the 
pulse at the neck and then beneath the shirt 
over the heart. The shot appeared to have 
gone through the shoulder. But the man 
who did the deed — Steele looked up quickly 
as he thought of it, and saw him of the red 
muffler moving through the crowd of miners 
which was now coming closer, awe-struck for 
the nonce. 

“Stop, there I’^ roared the operator as he 
reached for his holster. “Halt I” 

The fellow looked over his shoulder, saw 
the movement, and attempted to nin through 
the crowd which opened readily to allow his 
passage. Steele’s arm straightened, the gun 
cracked, and the fellow dropped without an- 
other step. A roar of anger went up. Then 
like a maddened bull the crowd surged for- 
ward. His gun pointed to the foremost. 


The Destroyers 219 

“Stop ! The next man drops in his tracks ! 
I don’t care who comes.” 

That was enough. The psychological mo- 
ment had been seized. No one dared come 
closer to that menacing Colt’s, for Steele’s 
reputation and this latest exhibition were 
things not to be questioned. Slowly, fear- 
struck, like a whipped cur with his tail be- 
tween his legs, backing away and watching a 
chance to run, the mob obeyed. 

As is usual, it was at this time that a police- 
man rushed to the scene, breathless, but cour- 
ageous, ready and alert to do his duty. 
Through the scattering crowd he came and 
made a dash for Steele as he bent again to 
give help to the reviving Canby. Phil had 
returned to consciousness in time to hear 
Steele’s last words. He was able to get 
weakly to his knees and pulled at the long 
coat which Steele wore. The policeman 
roughly grabbed Steele’s arm, placing him 
under arrest. The operator, straightening to 
learn who it was, the policeman mistook the 
action for an attempt to resist and reached 
for his revolver. The movement was stopped 
by a rapidly moving fist, sent directly at the 
big policeman’s jaw, landing him in a heap. 
Again Steele stooped to lift Canby. 


220 


The Destroyers 


“Is Phil hurt much? Are you hurt?” 
came a voice from behind. 

“Edith! — Miss Markham!” as Steele saw 
Kinney with her, and stooped again. “No, 
I think he is only hurt in the shoulder.” 

Kinney’s aid brought Canby to his feet, a 
feeble smile on his face as he tried to 
straighten up. 

“I’m not hurt, Edith. ’Twas only a 
scratch across my shoulder, but I fell and 
struck my head on the walk.” 

They carried him to the hotel and sent for 
a doctor, who informed them that Canby was 
in need of a short rest after the removal of 
the ball, which could be effected at once. 
While this was being done the other three, 
Steele, Kinney and Miss Markham, remained 
in the parlor. 

“We were just coming this way from the 
theater in the hope that we might see you and 
learn what had been agreed upon at the con- 
ference. We were right there near the cor- 
ner when Phil was shot and saw everything 
after that. Is the other man hurt much?” 


CHAPTER XIV 


“Just a week to-night since Phil was hurt. 
It has been a quiet one. I cannot understand 
what they mean.” 

“Perhaps they are sorry for what they 
did.” 

“Which means that you don’t know those 
fellows. They are not sorry they shot Phil, 
unless it be that they would rather it had been 
me. If they are sorry for anything it is that 
Dedman was shot and arrested. It will cost 
their local a small amount of cash, and at a 
rather inopportune time, for you know they 
will employ the best counsel to keep that fel- 
low from the pen.” 

“Are you going to prosecute him?” 

“Am I going to prosecute him? Did you 
ever have the idea that my heart was made 
of mush? If I can do it I am going to land 
that fellow so long in the pen that when he 
leaves he will never know his old associates. 
Maybe it will have a tendency to make him 
think, although I am doubtful.” 

“Mr. Spencer was saying at dinner — ” 

“But don’t build any of your ideas about 


222 


The Destroyers 


this matter on the old man’s foundation or 
you will be sadly in the wrong. Mr. Spencer 
is the dearest old friend I have, and I love 
him like I would my father. But when he 
was fighting upward to success he didn’t have 
to battle against such forces as these, and as 
a consequence he did not have the same brain 
cells developed. He has been a banker for 
forty years and has had to deal only with 
men of business, who were possessed of 
money. With me it has been different. I 
am thrown against ignorant, illiterate men of 
little means, men drawn from every society, 
from a dozen nationalities, men who know 
little of the responsibilities of citizenship, and 
care less. The fellows I have to deal with 
are led by men who are in the business for 
the graft, and who would fire the miners to 
do any unlawful thing so long as they could 
make a profit. The weapons I have to use 
are just a little different from those the old 
gentleman would employ, and they are much 
more effective. It doesn’t pay to be kind to 
a lot like this; they misunderstand and place 
misconstruction on your kindness.” 

“What will you gain by prosecuting the 
man? Phil was not hurt so badly, you say, 
and Dedman was. It seems to me like heap- 


The Destroyers 


223 


ing hot coals on the poor man; it would be 
making him suffer too much.” 

“From your view of the matter you are 
probably right. But it is not my view, and 
just now my view is the one which counts, so 
far as Dedman is concerned. I’ll tell you, 
E — Miss Markham: I am not anxious that 
this strike keep in the one rut, and die of over- 
rest. In order to bring on an effective end 
there must be action, something doing. The 
means must be strenuous to make the end 
worth the while. One by one, or faster, I 
am going to remove the discordant elements, 
the fellows without reason, who think they 
can win by sheer brute force. To do it I must 
combine brute force with reason. I have been 
following the plan pretty successfully.” 

“Perhaps I have been too narrow in my 
views.” She spoke with a resignation which 
showed incapability to grasp so large a sub- 
ject. “I cannot see things as you do. You 
are willing to deceive to win your point, and 
to treat an enemy as cordially as a friend to 
throw him from his guard. You see nothing 
but the end that pleases you, not thinking of 
the honesty of the means you employ. You 
keep your real self hidden behind a mask — 
that means I think your real self does not be- 


224 


The Destroyers 


lieve in the things you do. That is why you 
have to keep yourself in check, why you are 
always self-possessed. You remind me of a 
little statuette which I had in my room in 
Paris, a knight in full armor from head to 
foot, his helmet pulled forward so that the 
visor hid his face. I used to wonder how he 
looked: if he were dark or fair, handsome 
or homely, young or old, and whether he 
showed here and there the scars of battle, or 
whether he was just bedubbed and had never 
heard the clash and clangor of arms.” 

“And had you torn aside the armor you 
might have seen?” 

“Yes.” She said it slowly, with medita- 
tion, dreaming perhaps of what she might 
have found. 

“I am wondering” — he, too, spoke slowly — 
“if you could have torn the armor aside. I 
wonder if it was not buckled on very tightly 
and in trying to open it your pains would 
only have been rewarded with torn fingers 
and a greater curiosity. I wonder if the 
knight would not have resisted such an ef- 
fort — he might have removed it voluntarily 
if you had only shown him you really cared.” 

“But I did care,” she hastened. “I really 
wished to see what sort of knight he was.” 


The Destroyers 


225 


“Only curiosity again,” he smiled, “nothing 
but curiosity. The knight demanded some- 
thing more than that. Had you shown him 
traits more womanly than curiosity, is it not 
possible you could have won him to open the 
armor and show the man behind it? But, 
instead, you would rather tear your fingers, 
would rather use force.” 

She acknowledged with a smile and a droop 
of the eyelids that she had been beaten, but 
looked up again and renewed the argument. 

“Your philosophy in life is so very, very 
different from mine. I guess your view is 
broader, and there is the trouble. It is so 
broad it covers a multitude of sins. Mine is 
narrow, I know, but in it there is a distinct 
line between right and wrong.” 

Before she could continue along that line 
further, Steele broke in — 

“You have hit it squarely. No one could 
have done better. You walk along a narrow 
path, one which you say is not straight, but 
which forks quite often, the separate paths of 
right and wrong. The paths of wrong are 
often quite hard to recognize, some leading 
to the right, some to the left. On that nar- 
row way you get no chance to ask the direc- 
15 


226 


The Destroyers 


tion, but must choose for yourself. Your 
path is not lined with pretty shrubbery nor 
do wild flowers grow along the way, else in a 
moment of dalliance you might stoop to pick 
one — ^and lose the way. How different is the 
road I am following: it is broad and smooth, 
beaten by the feet of many who have gone 
before; on both sides are pretty grass plots 
and long rows of trees, under whose shade I 
may sit and rest if my feet grow tired. The 
middle of the road is dry and dusty, unshaded 
from the hot rays of the merciless sun, unshel- 
tered from rain and sleet and snow. There 
is where is made the fight of progress. There 
we push and pull each other in the onward 
journey. Some move faster than others be- 
cause they are stronger or more alert and 
ready to slip through holes that are made for 
a moment in the crowd.” 

“And, if one, tripping, falls, you trample 
him beneath you in the rush,” she put in 
triumphantly. 

“Not if he has been square. If he has 
kicked us on the shins or has attempted to 
trip or hit below the belt, we let him go. His 
own kind, even, will rarely keep him up. If 
he has been square, pushing forward like a 
man, hitting us hard at times, perhaps, but 


The Destroyers 227 

always hitting fair, we are glad to give him a 
lift.” 

“Suppose some one attempts to cross the 
path in front of you?” she asked. 

“If I see an advantage in it I help him 
across. But if I think he will block me I try 
to hold him back.” 

“To what end would you keep him back?” 

“The rules of the path say I may hurl him 
against the competitor who seems strongest 
at my side, or force him to the ground. I 
have my choice — and I always play by the 
rules.” 

“Does your broad road not have any other 
path?” There was a shade of irony in her 
tone and in her manner as she asked the ques- 
tion, half expecting he would answer in the 
negative. 

“Yes, several of them, and I have watched 
many as they walked along the other paths, 
some hurrying, some walking leisurely, but 
nearly all beneath the shade of the spreading 
branches. Our big path in the middle of the 
road is the only one that is never shaded nor 
sheltered. If you do not wish to continue 
in one part of the path, or are forced out of 
it, you have recourse to any of the others. 
But we enjoy ourselves as we move along. 


228 


The Destroyers 


nodding to friends, perhaps leaving our own 
path for a while to chat and laugh with 
them.” 

She was laughing pleasantly as he finished 
the sentence and drew his watch. 

“The knight has opened his armor a lit- 
tle?” 

“Perhaps,” his eyes looking up from the 
watch to her, as he slowly wound the time- 
piece with his thumb and forefinger, a char- 
acteristic attitude of close thought, and, some- 
times, nervousness. His pause was long; 
then he suddenly straightened. “Perhaps he 
has only been telling in metaphor of other 
days, to show he has heard the clash and 
clangor of arms.” 

He rose to go. Though the hour was early 
she did not press him to stay, knowing that 
he had business matters to which he must at- 
tend, and, knowing, too, that he was solici- 
tous of Phil, who lay in bed at Steele’s house 
while the wound slowly healed. Canby had 
made a mistake on the day following his in- 
jury of thinking he was strong enough to be 
about, and the wound had re-opened. At once 
the doctor had issued orders that absolute 
quiet must be enjoyed until the shoulder was 
fairly well. 


The Destroyers 


229 


“I hope my knight’s page is better in the 
morning,” as they shook hands at the door. 
“Maybe he will help remove the armor — 
some time.” 

Steele wondered if there was a slightly 
firmer clasp to her fingers as she spoke, but 
their hands were apart as he bowed good 
night with a parting answer^ — 

“Perhaps the knight would know if the 
dreamer cared.” 

Edith went back to the room where they 
had been, and, turning out the lights, drew 
the largest chair directly in front of the grate, 
where the embers threw forth the friendly 
glow that dreamers and bohemians love so 
well. Settling comfortably back, her mind 
easily drifted to the thing of nearest and, per- 
haps, of greatest interest just then. 

He was right; it was only curiosity which 
prompted her desire to see beyond the heavy 
armor. He had said that if she cared — but 
she did not, she did not care in that 
way. She could not love him. His 
life was so different, so much at variance with 
her own. At times they touched, but that was 
all — he loved nature, so did she. The life 
of the outdoors called to him in the tone that 
it called to her, and each understood and an- 


230 


The Destroyers 


swered in the same way. His ideas of life 
bore not a resemblance to hers — -yes, there 
was a resemblance; his was a big game, a 
game they played by rules, as all games should 
be played. And he had said that the rules 
demanded of the player that he be “square,” 
that he could hit and hit hard, but the blow 
must be fair. Yes, there was a resemblance — 
nay, more, it was the same great fundamental 
rule. The players in his game must be 
square; was not that what, in her sphere, 
they called good, honest, honorable? But 
the application: in her philosophy, as ap- 
plied, it was sometimes difficult to distinguish 
the good from the bad, even though she had 
said there was a distinct line drawn between 
right and wrong. After all, was there ? 
There were so many fine points to be consid- 
ered, so many delicate shadings to be studied; 
it was truly difficult in her world at times to 
see the line of demarkation. In his game — 
aye, in his game they waited for no consider- 
ation of fine points. They never studied the 
difference in delicate shadings; in his game 
they had strict rules — you were right or you 
were wrong without a moment’s hesitation. 
If the player were wrong, if he failed, if only 
once, to observe the rules, he was crushed to 


The Destroyers 23 1 

the ground in the next fierce onslaught; if 
right — if right he stayed on his feet to fight 
the battle of the strong. Was it not glorious 
to watch these gigantic men in the marts of 
business, attacking and repelling with all the 
order of great armies, led by some Napoleon 
— some Napoleon who might one day see his 
Austerlitz, the next his Waterloo? 

Mercy? Did they know mercy who trav- 
eled that middle road, beaten upon by a swel- 
tering sun, exposed to rain and hail, bearing 
equally the zephyrs which blew from the 
south and the stiff, cold winds from the north? 
Did not these very conditions kill all mercy? 
Was not all tenderness, all sympathy of heart, 
obliterated by the ferocity of the contestants 
who strive daily to advance over the bodies 
of those who have fallen, taking every possi- 
ble advantage and never yielding one? Were 
they — yes, they were merciful. He said that 
in his game they helped the man who had 
tripped and fallen, providing he had played 
fairly. That was mercy. It was justice. It 
was encouragement in the true sense. It was 
the sense of divine right, inherent only in 
those who dared play that game honestly, 
fearlessly, faithfully. They gave aid to an 
honest friend or foe. these men who played 


232 The Destroyers 

the game for the sheer joy of the playing. 
Perhaps they even aided the foe whom they 
thought dishonest, the foe they were trying 
to crush — aided him purely out of sympathy, 
for had not the starving, freezing miners been 
given aid by the very man they were fighting? 
She had not dispelled the idea that Steele had 
been the donor of that mysterious thousand 
dollars, despite his denials, for she recalled 
how ambiguous always had been those de- 
nials. Had he given for the sake of gaining 
greater popularity to his side of the contest 
he would have devised a means by which he 
would have been discovered. But he had done 
the reverse; he had covered every chance of 
identity, and denied all knowledge to his best 
and closest friends. 

But when one broached the subject of the 
strike he was found bristling, ready for de- 
fense, prepared to meet any attack, wary, 
watchful. That he believed in the right of 
his cause one could not doubt. His every 
sentence showed the sincerity of his belief; 
his points were well taken, even unanswer- 
able, principally because of his manner of of- 
fering them, the show of strength and force, 
the display of utter conviction and the wil- 
lingness to fight to the last ditch for that con- 


The Destroyers 


233 


viction. She had seen him under various and 
varying conditions, surrounded by circum- 
stances before which many men would have 
bowed; in each case he had returned blow 
for blow, smiling the while, it seemed, as he 
watched the effects, and, carefully guarding 
his own interests, waited not the next attack, 
but struck forth. She had seen him when he 
was practicing his preachment that “in order 
to bring an effective end there must be action, 
something doing.” However, was there not 
a belief in right on the other side? Else why 
would men attempt by force to remove the 
obstacle in the way of their having work? 
Was Steele not wittingly depriving honest 
men of an honest day’s work? Was he not 
taking food from the mouths of those de- 
pendent upon the miners for bread? Surely 
there must be right on the workers’ side. 
They had attempted to injure him, perhaps to 
take his life — and had he not tried to do the 
same, save that he employed a method slower 
in execution? It was the fight of the middle 
road — out there in the hot rays of a burning 
sun, unshaded and unsheltered, where each 
one strove to gain the mastery. The rules, 
aye, the rules are but the one great rule of 
compensation : we pay the price for what we 


234 Destroyers 

get and receive the price for the goods w6 
sell. 

How different were these three men, Steele, 
Canby and Kinney. Canby had been her 
chosen friend, her chum, companion, and ad- 
viser in the student days in Paris. Never 
had she dreamed that the dilettante would one 
day be a figure in such a tragic drama. 
Life and living work some peculiar, unex- 
pected changes, of which this was one. A 
few months ago she would have emphatically 
denied that her art, her chosen life-work, 
would be relegated in favor of any man — 
but here was Jack Kinney, commander of the 
battery, handsome, blue-eyed Jack, a man 
who commanded respect by his geniality, his 
bright, cheery smile, and the very warmth of 
his feeling. Men loved him because he could 
listen to a story as well as he could tell one, 
because he could laugh more heartily than 
the rest, because he was reckless and daring, 
because he took one’s hand in a firm clasp and 
said he was glad to meet one. Women loved 
him — for the same reason that women always 
love a man. Almost the opposite of Steele, 
she found him open and frank, never at- 
tempting ambiguous replies nor using the 
many artful means of evasion. He looked at 


The Destroyers 




life optimistically, willing to laugh at any- 
thing if only it presented to him a small bit 
of humor. Bright, lightly witty, recognizing 
instantly the humorous contrasts in situations, 
he made a clubable man with men and a 
spiritedly congenial one with the opposite 
sex. Since he had come to Fenton Edith 
saw a phase of man’s life which had never 
pleased her until now. She had always de- 
manded that a man treat her seriously. 
Never had she delighted, as many women do, 
in the frivolities of conversation, but found 
more pleasure in chats on art, music, litera- 
ture, and the current events which were mak- 
ing history. But here was a man whose laugh 
was contagious, making its way into one’s 
heart and soul by the truth of its ring; whose 
quips and quirks, light though they were, 
pictured the happy view he took of life, for 
let it be known to all concerned that Jack 
Kinney was never placed in the list of men 
who took life altogether seriously. 

With a start she suddenly realized that it 
was growing late. The embers in the grate 
had almost died away, just a faint glow peep- 
ing through the coat of ashen gray. She 
could not see the little clock on the mantle, so, 
rising, she took it in her hands and, holding 


236 


The Destroyers 


it closely to the grate, saw that it was mid- 
night. Over two hours she had sat there in 
study, musing and meditating on men and 
events which had crowded themselves into her 
life. Placing the clock back in the mantel 
she went to the big east window to look out 
on the moonlit streets, to see the city as it lay 
quiet in the dead of night. She drew the cur- 
tain and a flood of light fell upon her, from 
which she started with a smothered cry. The 
whole eastern and southern sky was lurid, 
the city was lighted with flame! Holding 
back the curtain she tried vainly to see how 
far it was, or what place was burning. 
There ! Two shots she heard 1 Could it be — 
across the now brightly lighted room she ran, 
through the hall to the front veranda : the 
big barn to the north of Steele’s house was a 
mass of flames, by the light of which she 
could see people hurrying along the streets; 
then the ominous clang of the engines as the 
fire department went dashing along to the 
southward, the tolling of the bell at the city 
hall, the shrill tooting of the locomotives on 
the sidings, and the roaring bass of the fog- 
horn whistles at the mines. The air was astir 
with excitement. 

“Hello, Edith. Do you want to go?” 


The Destroyers 


237 


It was Kinney in a buggy. 

“Yes,” she screamed as she ran down the 
steps, and in a second was in the seat beside 
him. It was a wild drive, for those blocks to 
the summit of the hill were already filled with 
men, women and children, young and old, 
drawn in the maelstrom of curiosity created 
by disaster or calamity. Kinney was yelling 
like mad at those who crossed the road, driv- 
ing with the fury born of anxiety. Almost 
tipping the vehicle over in the rush, he 
whirled about the corner and up the driveway 
to the house at the south end of the grounds. 
Here it was deserted. The crowds were 
gathering at the other end, where the fire 
roared and cracked gleefully in the mad de- 
sire to destroy. Stopping at the front en- 
trance, Kinney helped Edith to the ground, 
then both dashed up the steps. There lay 
three bodies where they had fallen. The 
door was closed, but irregular holes in the 
heavy glass panels told a silent story of their 
own. What beyond the door? Kinney 
hesitated and stopped to look at each face 
carefully. Edith, thinking only of the other 
side, tried the knob — it turned and the great 
door swung freely open, her feet crushing 
broken glass as she stepped inside. Along the 


238 


The Destroyers 


hall she sped, calling “Tom! Tom!” No 
answer came. She reached the central stair- 
way, stopped an instant, listening, her foot 
on the first step. Again she called, but no re- 
ply. She gathered her skirts high for the 
sake of safety and ran up the broad stairs, at 
the top meeting a flood of light from the 
blazing barn. Almost breathless she called 
again : a door opened directly in front of her 
and the stalwart frame of Steele stood there, 
smiling. 

“Edith!” His voice was low and there 
was a quiver which told of intensity. 

“Tom, I’m so glad!” while her arms went 
about his neck and her face was very close to 
his as he bent forward. The smile vanished 
for a moment, a frown came, his eyes closed 
for an instant, opened again, the frown was 
gone, and in its place the quiet smile she had 
called a mask. 

“Edith!” roared Kinney, coming tumbling 
up the stairs; as he reached the upper land- 
ing she turned to him. 

“My God!” he cried, as he saw her. Her 
dress was red with blood ! 

Steele stepped forward, held up one arm, 
staggered, tried to regain his balance, and be- 
fore either could give him aid, lurched for- 
ward, prone upon the floor. 


CHAPTER XV 


“A lady to see you, Tom, but she shouldn’t 
come in just now. You’re not strong enough 
to see any one yet.” 

“Rot, Doc! I’m only bunged up a little. 
Who is it?” 

“I don’t know. Shall I get her card?” 

“Let the card go to the deuce. Tell her 
to come in. Doc. This is the third day and I 
am getting lonesome. I want some excite- 
ment or some one to talk to.” 

The doctor went to the door, opened it, 
spoke a few low words, and in a minute more 
a lady entered. A stranger! Steele’s face 
had worn a look of anticipation. He had ex- 
pected at least some one he knew. Why was 
this stranger here, in his sick-room ? 

“Mr, Steele, you will pardon my intrusion, 
I hope. I am from the Times, taking the 
place of Mr. Oiler for a few days. He has 
been called away on another trip and told me 
you were such a fine fellow and would be glad 
to help me. I am very anxious to turn in a 
good story to-day. That is the reason I have 
invaded your castle.” 


240 


The Destroyers 


Steele nodded the while he gazed at her, 
with a wave of one hand bidding her to have 
a seat. She was surely a type of the inde- 
pendent American girl. Her dress was neat, 
of a peculiar hue of brown, tailor-made, evi- 
dently, fitting to a form which was lithe and 
active; over all was a long jacket of the most 
recent fashion. This was what struck him 
last. The first glimpse told him she was de- 
murely pretty; not a doll-baby type of per- 
son, but with a round face, even, regular feat- 
ures without the semblance of an angle. The 
eyes, brown and clear, glanced out at him ap- 
pealingly from beneath long lashes. And 
her mouth? Her mouth pursed itself quite 
prettily as she attempted a smile. 

“What a lucky dog I am,” he thought, 
while trying in a dozen different ways to 
frame a reply. 

“You are more than welcome. Miss ” 

“Bidwell is my name.” 

His eyes suddenly searched her closely, 
then half closed for a moment, and opened to 
search her keenly again. Under the scrutiny 
she flushed, and to cover the nervousness fin- 
gered in her pocketbook for a card which she 
handed to him. 

“Miss Nelle Bidwell,” half speaking to 


The Destroyers 


241 


himself as he read the card. “Nelle Bid- 
well.” His head dropped a little lower as he 
mused. 

“I used to know a Nelle Bidwell. That 
was eight, nine, ten years ago. Dear little 
Nelle! She was my college sweetheart, away 
back there in those glad old days at Yale. 
She was eighteen then. That’s her picture 
there on the mantel.” He looked up quickly 
as he told her this, and pointed across the 
room toward the east window where one 
picture stood near a smoking-set. She turned 
to look, and started as she saw the group of 
bachelor belongings which formed the deco- 
ration of the mantel: a smoking-set, with 
three well-browned meerschaum pipes, four 
pictures of football teams, two of rowing 
teams, above all hanging the pennant of blue. 
The picture of a girl stood nearest the pipes 
at the center. Directly in front of the mantel 
she stood, while Steele watched with amused 
interest. 

She picked up the second of the team 
pictures from the left end; it was taken in 
Steele’s second year — ten years ago. 

“Why, there is Phil, and Jack, and Harry 
Morsley, and — and — you, Tommy!” She 
16 


242 The Destroyers 

turned toward him, laughing, the picture in 
her hand. 

Steele was out of the chair and on his feet 
in the instant, one hand holding him up as his 
body found itself too weak to obey. 

“Nelle, Nelle Bidwell!” and sank back in 
his seat exhausted. 

“Don’t, Tommy, you are too weak,” as she 
laid aside the picture and placed her hands 
on his shoulders, on her knees beside the 
chair, her face very close to his as she spoke. 

One of his hands sought the opposite 
shoulder, found one of hers, and closed about 
it with no protest. His face, as he looked 
into her eyes, was eloquent with joy, with the 
real pleasure of meeting a dear old friend, 
one who was close to him — ten years ago. 

“You have changed, Nellie, girl, but I 
should have known you. I have always re- 
membered you as you were back in those 
glad old days. You see, I couldn’t think you 
would ever change when there was your 
picture on the mantel; it never changed. 
But didn’t you know who I was?” 

“How could I forget, when I knew your 
father was king of Fenton in those times? I 
wanted to see if you would remember me- — 
and you did not. They told me to come 


The Destroyers 


243 


down on this assignment when Oiler asked to 
go on another trip. Of course, I could not 
refuse. My job is to get the news, and they 
send me almost any place they would a man — 
sometimes even to places where they would 
never send Oiler.” 

“And you are going to tell the public what 
a bloated capitalist, and how mean I am, eh? 
Going to be like the rest of those sharks — 
everlastingly trying to bore me through to 
see how much news the hole will let out?” 

“No, indeed. Tommy. I am here only to 
get facts and not to bore any one. If you do 
not want me to stay I will report back and 
they can get some one else.” 

“Who wouldn’t be half so kind to me. 
No, I guess, taking the whole thing into view, 
I guess I would rather have you.” He smiled 
wistfully at her and pressed the hand in his. 

“Another to see you, Tom,” announced the 
doctor as he opened the door and poked his 
head through just far enough to give him a 
clear view of the situation. And he did not 
withdraw it hurriedly, either, but waited for 
the reply. 

“If it is any one you remember, please 
don’t recognize him. I will introduce you by 
another name almost the same. Under- 


244 


The Destroyers 


stand?” he whispered to her hastily, as she 
arose and nodded to the doctor. 

Kinney and Miss Markham entered. 
Noticing that a stranger was present and that 
it was a woman, Edith hesitated for a mo- 
ment, turning color slightly. 

“Miss Markham, this is Miss Biddle; Mr. 
Kinney, Miss Biddle. Miss Biddle is a repre- 
sentative of .the Times. She is down here to 
get the whys and wherefores of things and we 
have been talking over the new situation, 
comparing it with the old. We have had to 
go back a little and trace matters up to the 
present. Won’t you have seats?” 

All four fell into conversation, discussing 
in a general way the fire of three nights be- 
fore and the events which led up to it as 
nearly as they could be arrived at. Steele’s 
manner was vastly different from that on pre- 
vious occasions when he had been attacked. 
This time he laughed over it, and said that 
the miners were only following the law of 
compensation long since laid down — they 
were buying the goods and would have to pay 
for them eventually; the price he would de- 
termine later. 

Kinney and Miss Markham were rather re- 
tiring at first and made no attempt to lead 


The Destroyers 


245 


Steele into a discussion of the affair, until 
they found that he was perfectly willing to 
talk over matters, even in the** presence of 
Miss Biddle. 

“Would you mind saying what your plan 
will be in the future, Mr. Steele?” asked the 
Times representative in the most businesslike 
manner. The other two sat in silence, won- 
dering what his answer would be, in view of 
the open manner in which he had talked of 
the situation this afternoon, and comparing 
this change in his methods to the position he 
had heretofore taken. 

“No, I do not mind telling you. Miss 
Biddle,” lingering on the name a little longer 
than was necessary, “but the fact is that I 
have made no definite plans as yet. You see, 
I was placed in this condition only a few 
hours ago, and I have not had much time to 
calculate distances. I cannot make a good 
leap until I look at the stream in front of me. 
That it’s a wide one I have not the slightest 
doubt. No one from the office has been here 
to-day to tell me how the niggers are getting 
along without me, though they wouldn’t miss 
me much if it were not for the fact that they 
probably know why I am kept away, and I 
am fearful lest they develop a bad case of 


246 


The Destroyers 


fright. Phil ought to be here in a little while 
to tell me about affairs.” 

“But what is your plan in general? Will 
you fight the union any harder?” 

“That would hardly be possible. I am 
fighting it hard now and I intend to keep 
fighting to the end.” 

“Will you prosecute those who led the at- 
tack on your house the other night, if it can 
be learned who they are?” she persisted. 

“That depends largely on conditions after 
I get out. Phil tells me that one was found 
dead and two seriously hurt. I think they 
were probably the leaders.” 

“Those were the ones at the door when we 
got there,” said Miss Markham, turning to 
Kinney, and shuddering at the thought. 
“But, tell us, Mr. Steele, how did you keep 
them from entering? Were you awake at 
the time?” 

“Well, you see, Phil’s shoulder was about 
well and we were figuring that he could go 
out the next day if nothing happened, so we 
stayed up in his room and talked over matters 
for a long time. It must have been almost 
twelve when I went to the other end of the 
hall to get some water. I saw the fire at the 
barn just starting and a crowd of a dozen 


The Destroyers 


247 


came running toward the house. The guns 
were in Phil’s room, and I told him to stay 
at the head of the stairs while I went below. 
That’s all there is to it.” 

“But your injuries, how many are there?” 
asked the reporter. 

“Two little scratches on this shoulder,” as 
he designated the left, “and one little one in 
the right side. They’ll be all right in a day 
or two. But you understand, none of this is 
for publication. I am speaking only in confi- 
dence.” 

Miss Bidwell nodded her assent. 

Persons who know little or nothing of the 
business think that a reporter’s work is to 
publish everything that will interest, astonish, 
or amuse the public. This is rather a poor 
view to take of journalism. A newspaper- 
man, if possessed of the real love of the work, 
a man who is honest, seeking only the news 
which is legitimate, knows that he must hold 
back at times much more than he gives to the 
public. In fact, this may be taken as the case 
in most instances. The newspaper-man, as a 
general rule, knows many times more concern- 
ing a story than that which is put into the 
public prints. 

“Miss Biddle desires to get a story in the 


248 


The Destroyers 


Times to-day, and if you will excuse me I 
would dictate what I have to say. Won’t you 
go into the library, Jack, you and Miss Mark- 
ham, and I shall not be very long. I know 
this is rude, but you people know me so 
well.” 

“It is time we were going, anyway, Mr. 
Steele. It is getting late and I wish to do 
some shopping.” 

“Oh, no. Miss Markham. Really, I shall 
be only a few minutes, and then I want to talk 
with you people. Please do not leave.” 

“Mr. Kinney will call for me to-morrow 
morning, and then we shall come up to see 
how you are again. You will come, won’t 
you?” as she turned to Kinney. 

“Sure thing. We’ll have to come up to 
tell what is doing.” 

They left the room together, laughingly 
taunting Steele with what a fine time they 
would have with his car. 

“Draw your chair closer, Nelle. Now, tell 
me what you have been doing all these years. 
Why didn’t you answer my letter? I wrote 
you right after I came back from Europe and 
learned that your father had died and you 
had left there.” 

“Really, Tommy, I — I — ” 


The Destroyer: 


249 


“You received my letter?” 

“Yes, but I—” 

“Had tired of me?” he asked hurriedly. 

“No, indeed; you know better than that, 
Tom. Back in those days I thought you were 
the only man worth while.” 

“Times have changed you, eh? Well, 
Nelle, I can’t blame you much for changing. 
I am a different sort now. The glamour of 
college days wears off a fellow after he 
brushes around the rough places of the 
world.” He was smiling at her indulgently. 
“By the way,” before she could reply, “what 
has become of Dick, that big brother who 
used to want to hammer my head when I 
stayed late?” 

“He is assistant managing editor of the 
Times. I thought you knew that.” 

“What? Humph, — I see,” slowly and 

with a drop of his eyes, in study. 

“See what?” She colored slightly and the 
question betrayed some anxiety. 

“Why did they send Oiler away? He 
seemed to be doing pretty well here, and I do 
not know" where they could have sent him on 
a more important assignment. This affair 
seems to be holding the chief columns on the 
front page.” 


250 


The Destroyers 


“Well, you know — he wrote into the of- 
fice and asked to be allowed to go somewhere 
else.” 

“Where?” 

“I do not know. He never said, or, at 
least, Dick did not tell me.” 

“Some other end of this story, he thinks?” 
Steele was playing the game again. He had 
forgotten the old days at Yale, forgotten his 
sweetheart days. He was again in the middle 
road, fighting the battle of the strong. 

“Yes, he knew where he could get the other 
end easier than this, and thought it was more 
important.” 

“And Dick thought you could get more out 
of me than any one else?” 

“Tom!” Her eyes blazed. “Do you 
think I am here to do that?” 

“Forgive me, Nelle. Please forgive me, 
old girl. I—” 

He turned his head from her, his eyes 
closed and the firmness in the lines about his 
eyes and mouth took on an expression of ex- 
treme intensity, more of pain than strength, 
as two great wrinkles showed between the 
eyebrows. 

“Dear old Nelle,” he muttered to himself, 


The Destroyers 


251 


barely audibly. Turning then quickly to her 
and offering out his hand in supplication — 

“Won’t you forgive me, Nelle? Just for 
old times’ sake ?” 

She took his hand in both of hers, and 
smiled through a mist of rising tears. 

“Just for the sake of old times.” 

So they sat for several moments. His gaze 
drifted far past her. She saw he was in deep 
meditation and did not offer to disturb him. 
Once or twice his grayish eyes narrowed, the 
mouth became more set, and she saw a face 
of power, a strength of expression which 
dominated all else about him. It was no 
wonder, thought she, that he had become the 
Napoleon of the western coal fields, a mighty 
emperor whose every word was command; 
no wonder that Stratton had fallen before 
this man, Stratton, who, for years, had been 
the feared of all fearful, whose scepter had 
been little less than all-powerful in the politics 
of the State. After all, he had not changed 
much since the college days ; then the exuber- 
ance of youth made itself evident, though he 
had always held the leadership in whatever 
set he had moved, had always been among 
the best, whether in class or on the field. Of 
course, his father’s money made him inde- 


252 


The Destroyers 


pendent, but she had heard it said from very 
authoritative sources, since his name had re- 
cently become so prominent, that he had al- 
most doubled the fortune since his father’s 
death. 

“Nelle,” his gaze coming back to her, “be- 
ing in public life consists chiefly in being a 
target for every nimrod. I am very apt to 
be very soon in public life to a greater extent 
than you know. It may be that controlled 
circumstances will force it upon me. At any 
rate, it is easier to win the applause of the 
populace when one has the right press agent. 
I need a press agent. What do you think 
of it?” 

“I don’t know what are your plans.” 

“They are only outlined, so far. Circum- 
stances, as I say, may cause me to be in public 
life more prominently than I have been.” 

“Politics?” 

“Perhaps. But just now I need some one 
whom I can trust in the strike. Will you 
help me?” 

“How can I, Tom? I am working for the 
Times T 

“That is just it. Your position with the 
Times can be made the very pivot of the af- 
fair.” 


The Destroyers 253. 

“You surely would not ask me to kill news, 
would you?” 

“Of course not, Nelle; what I want is not 
to kill the news, but to publish it — let the 
whole country know ij:. The more the public 
is told about this place the more will it help 
me. Will you agree?” 

“Yes, I shall be glad to do anything I can, 
Tom, just so long as it is honorable.” 

Slowly, carefully, deliberately, Steele told 
her about conditions in Fenton, and what 
particular portions of the news were as yet un- 
told and very valuable as news to the reading 
public. His plan was for her to disseminate 
many important statements from him among 
the other press representatives in the city, and 
to send out three or four news letters, type- 
written freshly, to a hundred chosen papers in 
the State which she knew did not get the 
regular press service. 

Publicity was the keynote. He would 
take the people of the State into his confidence 
and give to them every bit of news from his 
great industrial war-center of the coal fields. 


CHAPTER XVI 


Steele’s first day at the office brought him 
- again into closest contact with the strike. 
For five days he had been away from it, read- 
ing, resting, talking to friends and otherwise 
enjoying the time, knowing that the miners 
would make no move until he was out of the 
sick-room. To a nicety he calculated that his 
period of illness would be one of anxiety for 
them, for well they knew he had recognized 
several of the attacking party of that night. 
News from his room was as eagerly awaited 
by the miners as by his best friends. Leaders 
of the outrages may have cared little for 
Steele’s life; had he been killed in the assault 
it would all have been different; no one could 
have told tales. But, Steele was alive and 
conscious ; the miners watched and waited and 
listened to the news with fear and trembling. 

The coming of Nelle into the scene of 
action added zest. With renewed energy he 
made larger plans for the future, conscious 
that if used aright her ability to write would 
be a power in his favor. Publicity of the 
favorable sort was needed, and this she could 


The Destroyers 


255 


supply. The situation was such that, on the 
face, everything was distinctly favorable. 
No one would deny the statements which 
could be sent to the public through the larger 
dailies and the country press, and even the 
most astute friends of the union would be 
powerless to overcome the lead he would at- 
tain. 

On the fifth day after the fire Steele made 
ready to go to the offices, despite the orders 
of the physician and the protests of his 
friends. Realizing that he was not strong 
enough to do anything at the mines more than 
to give directions, which could be as well given 
in his rooms, he went down because it added 
to his confidence in himself, because it led him 
to believe he was getting a firm hold again on 
a situation which appeared to be lost while he 
remained in his room ; because it thrilled him, 
like a wounded soldier coming back to the 
field of battle. Perhaps it was defiance^ — he 
would show his enemy that he still lived and 
had the old strength, ready to fight his battles 
again on the same lines. It might have been 
a play for sympathy of the public, though 
this could have been gained more easily by 
remaining in the sick-room, with the doctor 
issuing bulletins at the beginning and the close 


256 


The Destroyers 


of the day. With his left shoulder bound 
closely he was taken to the offices, passing 
through the business section in his car, bowing 
and smiling to friends as he went, ready with 
a pleasant word to any who spoke. At Mer- 
sey’s he alighted to purchase cigars and stood 
several moments on the sidewalk, chatting 
happily with a small crowd which gathered 
to wish him well. At the postoffice he ob- 
tained his mail, here, too, meeting acquaint- 
ances who expressed their pleasure at his re- 
covery. 

At the office everything became excitement 
upon his arrival. Canby and Farr had not 
expected him, and were surprised. The 
negroes, many of whom had not gone down 
to work since the night of the fire, gathered 
about the office, glad to see him again but 
only expressing their joy in low laughs and 
chuckles, almost fearing to make any further 
demonstration. After greetings to the two 
men who had cared for matters during his 
absence, he went to the door of the office and 
in a short talk told the negroes to have no 
fear, to be ready for a return to work on the 
morrow; he told them that the union miners 
would do them no harm while they remained 
about the mines, and warned them to go to 


The Destroyers 


257 


town as little as possible, and, further, to be 
peaceable at all times. At the close of his 
talk the negroes hurrahed, and scattered to 
their various pursuits about the grounds, 
happy and cheerful, ready to take up their 
work again, feeling more secure in his pres- 
ence. Illiterate and unschooled, raised in an 
atmosphere which had done nothing for the 
development of appreciative sensibilities, their 
animal instincts led them to believe in this 
man who feared no one, who dared fight 
against even the worst appearing odds and 
who seemed to win at every turn. 

He was about to leave at noon for lunch at 
the hotel when a telephone message an- 
nounced that a deputation of miners wished to 
present itself at the earliest moment. He set 
the hour for one o’clock and proceeded to 
luncheon, calling Brandon to the hotel in the 
mean time. While the deputation was on its 
way, near the appointed hour, to treat with 
the operator, the Tribune^ in an extra edition, 
told the populace of the news. What the 
miners desired was not made plain, but guesses 
and deductions were made, each drawn from 
good premises along varying lines, until the 
public was in a seething anxiety over the mat- 
17 


258 


The Destroyers 


ter. This visit of the miners presented itself 
in several lights; some were even so foolish 
as to suggest that perhaps they were going 
with the most sinister motives, this time to 
make sure of the removal of the young opera- 
tor from the scene of action. Outside the 
barricade a great crowd gathered to get the 
news at first hand, to be on the ground in case 
of accident or trouble, or to sate an innate 
curiosity by bringing their bodies within the 
magnetic zone of electrification. 

“Mr. Steele, in the name of the local we 
wish to present our felicitations and to ex- 
press our sorrow at the accident which befell 
you a few nights ago through the wild orgies 
of men who were uncontrollable. Although 
you are our industrial enemy just now, we are 
not seeking to win by your death, nor by the 
destruction of your property. In fact, wb 
recognize that in your death we could not 
gain anything more. We desire to express 
our pleasure at your convalescence and hope 
that you will gain your strength rapidly, be- 
ing able to take up your active duties within 
the shortest possible time. 

“And now, Mr. Steele, the immediate busi- 
ness which calls us here is to ask if you will 
submit the differences which have caused the 


The Destroyers 


259 


strike to arbitration. We shall be glad to 
offer testimony before the State board, if you 
will do the same, and allow it to arrive at a 
decision in the matter.” 

The spokesman was Morley, walking dele- 
gate, lobbyist, and press agent of the coal 
miners’ union. They had met at other times, 
Steele and Morley, and engaged now, as be- 
fore, in taking each other’s measure. Morley 
had not risen from the ranks of the miners as 
had many of the officials of the organization, 
but had withdrawn from very lucrative news- 
paper work to become the capital watchdog 
and news purveyor. As a newspaper-man in 
active duties Morley had ranked among the 
best. At the time of the anthracite trouble, 
several years before, when the muckrake was 
being drawn over every visible heap, political, 
social, financial and industrial, he had ob- 
tained a considerable fame through his re- 
ports of many investigations, and, too, by his 
active participation in the instigation of 
several exposes. In those times his signed 
articles were read throughout the country 
with purse-bulging avidity. With a mistake 
during the third campaign of a Presidential 
candidate, his influence with the public began 
to wane, whereupon he had taken up his 


26 o 


The Destroyers 


present work, evidently finding it of good pay- 
ing qualities. His long acquaintance with 
public men and affairs and his keen under- 
standing of industrial conditions were greatly 
enjoyed by him, knowledge which he em- 
ployed at every point to score advantages for 
his clients, and himself. An artful politician, 
with the finesse lent by education and the com- 
mingling with masters of political maneuver, 
coupled with the backstair influence gained 
by close acquaintanceship with powers on the 
thrones and behind them, tactful always, even 
to the extent of appearing Arcadian and 
guileless, he was enabled to obtain many an 
overbalance in the favor of labor. Whether 
his sympathies were wholly and entirely with 
those for whom he worked must not figure as 
a part of the question. For three years he 
had worked assiduously as chief labor-lobby- 
ist of the State, gaining a vantage ground not 
impregnable, but powerful withal. Though 
Machiavellian on many occasions, he had 
never been denounced by an enemy which had 
either given up in disgust or but awaited a 
fairer moment to renew the efforts. 

Until now Morley had never figured in af- 
fairs in which Steele was connected; their in- 
dividual powers had never been directly op- 


The Destroyers 


261 


posed. The operator had not expected any 
action on the part of the miners so soon, and 
was taken unawares. That Morley should 
appear as a visible factor in the negotiations 
gave spice to the flavor, not unappetizing, for 
Steele was willing enough to taste of new con- 
coctions if he foresaw any opportunity to 
make the mixture to his liking. To measure 
weapons with a man of Morley’s known abil- 
ity would be worth the while; but since his 
opponent had chosen the weapon Steele must 
test his own to see that the metal would sur- 
vive the contest. 

“Gentlemen, I thank you for your kind 
wishes for my personal welfare, and only 
hope that you feel as kindly toward my in- 
terests ; especially to the extent of treating in 
this matter which you propose honestly and 
honorably, with fairness and equity of spirit 
and action, however hard you fight for the 
right as you see it. I am desirous of ending 
the trouble which exists at the present time 
and would lend my aid and endorsement to a 
program by which any differences of the 
future could be brought to a quiet settlement, 
without recourse to industrial warfare. 

“You propose arbitration. I am ready to 
accept the proposal, and though I do not 


262 


The Destroyers 


make it a provision of my acceptance this 
time, I would suggest that each side agree in 
writing to stand by whatever decision the 
board of arbitration shall make. Arbitration 
in this country is not compulsory, though it 
should be, and there is no means of definitely 
promised settlement unless both sides agree 
that the decision shall be binding. There are 
five of you in this delegation which, as a body, 
represents the union of which you are mem- 
bers. I suggest that we draw up an agree- 
ment and all sign it to show our faith in the 
principles for which we stand, and to signify 
our intention of abiding by the decision of the 
board.” 

The scratching of Nelle’s pencil, taking 
notes in shorthand, ceased. Quiet fell upon 
the room for a moment as Steele finished and 
settled back in his chair. Four of the dele- 
gates, local members, eagerly watched the 
spokesman from whom they would take their 
cue. Morley studied for a long minute and 
asked that the delegation be given a little 
while to discuss the matter. The rear room 
of the office, used as a filing-room for papers 
and correspondence, was offered as a confer- 
ence-room, to which they retired for ten 
minutes. 



\ 





The Destroyers 


263 


“After canvassing the situation thoroughly, 
Mr. Steele,” spoke Morley, on their return 
to the office, “we have decided that we cannot 
accept your suggestion on the matter of the 
decision of the board. For several reasons 
we should much desire to have freedom of ac- 
ceptance or declinature. However, as we un- 
derstand it, you are still willing to submit the 
differences to arbitration?” 

Steele bowed his acquiescence. 

“Yes, I am willing to arbitrate, but very 
sorry you do not see fit to accept my sugges- 
tion. Shall we ask the board to sit in Fenton 
or at the capital? I have no preference; you 
may decide.” 

Agreement was reached to call upon the 
State board by telegraph, the meetings to be 
held in Fenton within seven days. After the 
telegrams were sent and more complimentary 
expressions traded, the delegation withdrew, 
Brandon hurried out, Prout of the Press de- 
parted hastily, and Canby went to arrange the 
car for Steele’s trip, leaving Steele and Miss 
Bidwell alone. 

“Nelle, I want you to get good stories of 
this to every paper in the State, even to the 
smallest dailies, and I’ll pay the tolls for the 
ones you think would turn it down otherwise. 


264 The Destroyers 

There is just yet time to catch most of the 
afternoon editions. You obtained two snap- 
shots of them, and I’ll get some more pictures 
this afternoon. See you at the hotel this even- 
ing at dinner.” 

As Steele passed through town on his way 
to the house on the hill extra editions of the 
Press and the Tribune were being cried for 
sale, telling in glaring headlines of the nego- 
tiations for a settlement of the strike. Pass- 
ing along the main business thoroughfare he 
was almost given an ovation by tradesmen 
and professional friends who had read with 
unalloyed pleasure of his manly suggestion to 
the delegation which had not been accepted. 
One more high card had he played from his 
hidden hand, and that, too, when the popu- 
lace was with him out of sympathy for his 
physical condition. If he could only cling 
tenaciously now to this popular acclaim it 
would add much to his chances for victory. 
He must! He would! The sentiment of 
the people he must have and hold as his bul- 
wark against failure ! 

After dinner he talked an hour with Miss 
Bidwell, giving directions, offering sugges- 
tions, and submitting data for Sunday articles, 
illustrated, for several of the metropolitan 


The Destroyers 


265 


papers. This concluded, he told a portion of 
his plan of being ill on the morrow to cover 
his actions, and gave the plans of her conduct 
for the day. Later in the evening he called 
at the Spencer home, and was warmly 
greeted. Kinney was there, calling on Miss 
Markham, leaving, though, soon after 
Steele’s arrival. The old banker was over- 
flowing with joy and satisfaction with the 
course which the operator had chosen in deal- 
ing with the miners to-day. 

“By George, Tom,” he broke out rejoic- 
ingly, “you are pursuing the right course now. 
That is my idea precisely. Let them know 
you are upright and honest; that you are 
willing to treat fairly with them. You have 
been following the wrong course by antago- 
nizing the workmen. You are beginning to 
look at it in the right light now, and I am 
sorry they didn’t accept your proposition.” 

Steele listened to what the elder man had 
to say on the matter and allowed him to think 
and believe what he pleased, offering nothing 
to alter his ideas. 

Miss Markham and he had been alone, 
conversing of many things, changing subjects 
easily and often, when she broached the sub- 


266 


The Destroyers 


ject of the newest acquisition to the journal- 
istic force in Fenton. 

“You and Miss Biddle have become quite 
good friends, I hear.” 

“One hears a great many things during a 
day’s listening,” he answered, “though I sup- 
pose you are right — ^we have become good 
friends. She seems to be eager for news and 
is not so apt to fly off at tangents as some of 
these fellows have been. As a newspaper- 
woman I like her immensely.” 

“She is quite pretty, too, and attractive. I 
am surprised some of you eligible bachelors 
do not fall in love with her.” 

“We old bachelors are not to be ensnared 
by every pretty face that we see. Miss Biddle 
would make a queen for some man, though.” 

“You seem to favor her more than you do 
the other reporters. What makes you so 
willing to be interviewed? Most men in cases 
of this kind are perfect sphinxes in presence 
of newspaper reporters.” 

“I feel the correctness of my contention, 
and if I seem so willing to be interviewed it 
is because I am glad to take the public into my 
confidence and explain just what is being done 
in Fenton. But, why do you take so much 
interest in her? Do you care — ” 


The Destroyers 


267 


“No, no; not in the least. Only a 
woman’s curiosity. I was wondering what 
turn your complexity of plans would take 
next. You must not misunderstand me, Mr. 
Steele, I—” 

“I think I shall not; you give me no op- 
portunity to misunderstand. At all times you 
have let me know that your apparent interest 
has been nothing but mere curiosity. I shall 
not misunderstand.” 

Rising to leave, he was standing between 
her and the fireplace, his clear-cut face firm 
and strong, his voice low, smooth and unruf- 
fled, yet reserving a calmness of power. 

“You are feeling weak, I suppose, this 
evening,” as she, too, rose. “But I want you 
to call to-morrow evening, if you are feeling 
better. Will you?” 

“Yes, if I am feeling strong enough. 
However, don’t you think we can end one 
evening in some other way than being at odds 
with each other, as we have been lately? I 
think you misunderstand me.” 

“Perhaps; but you have never given me a 
chance to understand. You evade and dodge 
when I try to understand. I do wish you 
would be more frank with me.” 

“To satisfy curiosity?” he smiled. 


268 


The Destroyers 


“To understand.” 

Phil was waiting in his room when Steele 
arrived. 

“Phil,” after they had settled down to a 
glass of brandy and soda and each had 
lighted his pipe, “this business is in such a fix 
that I must move with certainty, and quickly. 
To-night I must be on the midnight train for 
the capital. You will have to drive me to 
Lesterville and I can get away secretly. Pll 
come back to-morrow night on the train that 
gets to Lesterville just after midnight. You 
meet me there, and take good care that no 
one knows which direction you take. Scatter 
the news around town that I am feeling weak 
and have stayed in my room. Come up twice 
during the day to see me and stay here all 
evening, keeping the lights up and the cur- 
tains drawn.” 

At eleven o’clock Canby drove away from 
the Steele home in a car, over the tonneau of 
which was thrown a rubber cloth to protect 
it from dust or rain. By the midnight hour he 
drew into Lesterville, a quiet village of sev- 
eral hundred, long since fallen asleep, and 
waited on the dark side of the station. As 
the express pulled away through the night 
toward the capital, Canby turned the car and 
left as he had come. 


CHAPTER XVII 


In the Warwick, met the State board of ar- 
bitration on the day agreed, ready to hear 
testimony from each side and to subpoena 
any witnesses needed to add to the statements 
of those who were voluntary witnesses for the 
contending sides. Steele had asked but two 
persons to go before the board, Spencer and 
Gottlieb, the pit boss of the mine at the time 
of the strike. Six witnesses appeared for the 
union contention, among them being Morley. 

The miners attempted to show that there 
had been a lockout on the part of Steele by 
his closing two of the mines for repairs at a 
time when work was at its best; that the 
entries and rooms were in good condition and 
not in need of repairs at that time ; that Steele 
was angered at several requests which had 
been made by the union and was but trying to 
play even by locking them out, thus forcing 
them into strike. They asked that the entire 
number of miners be put to work under the 
existing scale, with full recognition of the 
union. 

Steele showed, through his witnesses, that 


270 


The Destroyers 


he had never expressed any but friendly feel- 
ings for the miners until the strike declara- 
tion, when they had assaulted him on the 
street and had created riotic conditions in 
Fenton. By the old pit boss, a man in whom 
miners and operators alike had perfect confi- 
dence, a bluff old German who had spent the 
greater part of his life in and about coal 
mines, it was shown that the mine began to 
overflow on the day of the breaking of the 
cable and that pockets of gas broke loose to 
an alarming extent; that Steele had repaired 
the mines and had offered work to the men 
on the morning following their precipitate 
action in the local council meeting; that he 
had asked them to go to work even while on 
his trip eastward, the local papers telling of 
the intention to work his mines with other 
men if the old miners did not feel like com- 
ing to the shafts. Never had he said any- 
thing to the miners concerning the recogni- 
tion of the union, and when he had asked 
them to return to work, or announced that his 
mines were ready to receive the men, he did 
not say he would not recognize the union, but 
expressly stated that they could work under 
the same conditions and at the same scale, 
that decided upon by the joint convention of 


T he Destroyers 271 

miners and operators at the last meeting in 
Indianapolis. 

Before the board, when the other witnesses 
had been examined, Steele stated that he had 
accepted the proposal for arbitration immedi- 
ately and had suggested that each side agree 
to abide by the decision. He now stated that 
he would willingly receive the old men at 
work in his collieries, but without recognition 
of the union as a body. 

“The miners walked out of my employ of 
their own free will, attempting in every man- 
ner to injure me and my property, denounc- 
ing me in the fullest terms, and now they 
have come before this honorable body in a 
demand that they be employed with full 
recognition of the union, a thing which I have 
expressed myself among friends as not willing 
to do. I shall here say that under no condi- 
tions will I accede to the demand. The union 
at the present time is not a body with whic;h a 
business man may treat. The members are 
ready at the most inopportune moments to 
throw the employer over, and place him in a 
position compromising to himself personally 
and to his business interests. Until the union 
becomes a body which can be sued for breach 
of contract, can be forced to a recognition of 


% 272 


The Destroyers 


the rights and value of property, I shall none 
of it. I will announce to the honorable board 
and all gathered here that I am willing to 
grant an Increase of five per cent, on the exist- 
ing wage scale until the close of the contract, 
but the men must go to work without thought 
of the union. I shall not deny the right of 
the union to exist and to hold meetings, be- 
cause that would be utter folly. But, I claim 
the right to employ any persons I think com- 
petent to .operate my mines and to release 
from my employ any persons I think incom- 
petent. Personal dislikes have nothing to do 
with my business. That Is a fact w^ell known 
by every man who has ever been connected 
with me. I am In the business to make 
money, and when a workman Is competent to 
mine coal I am willing to pay him the price 
for that work and to retain him In my employ 
so long as he delivers the goods for the price 
I pay.” 

This direct utterance of Steele’s, the first 
of the kind that had been so publicly heard 
from him, was a distinct surprise to those in 
the conference-room. Even the miners, de- 
manding that he recognize the union, had not 
expected such words. It was an open defi 
of the organization, and being made before 


The Destroyers 273 

a board of arbitration carried more weight 
than otherwise. 

Late in the afternoon the report of the 
board was made public, after having been 
sent by telegraph and another copy by private 
messenger to the Governor and to the Bureau 
of Labor. Eagerly had Fenton awaited the 
report since midday, when the witnesses had 
been excused and the board had gone into 
closed session. When it came it produced a 
sensation throughout the city. The board 
decided that the Steele interests had been in- 
jured by the strike of the miners, that the 
strike was uncalled for, and that Steele’s offer 
of five per cent, above the scale had appeared 
to it more than an accession to their demands ; 
it handed down the opinion, too, that the 
miners should return to work with no recogni- 
tion of the union, that Steele’s interests stood 
in danger of loss from a body which could not 
stand behind its contracts and enforce condi- 
tions implied. 

The miners stoutly refused to accept the 
opinion of the board and so stated in writ- 
ing. 

“Nelle, old girl, you can see how valuable 
you are to me, can’t you?” as they sat 


274 


The Destroyers 


together, Steele and the Times representa- 
tive, in the quiet alcove of the hotel parlors. 

“You have done some fine advertising. I 
have not heard of one of the stories that has 
been turned down. I was looking through 
the exchanges at the Tribune office several 
days ago and I found that every one of the 
smaller papers is publishing all I have been 
sending. The next thing ought to be a big 
Sunday story on this meeting, don’t you 
think?” 

“That is a good idea. We have things our 
way and we may as well keep them coming. 
I can get some pictures for you, especially all 
the members of the board, but you will have 
to figure out the way of getting Morley’s. 
His picture would add greatly because of his 
being so well known, and this is the first time 
he has ever become directly connected with 
any labor trouble on the scene of action. His 
business has been to lobby and gain public 
sympathy from the capital. This is a diver- 
sion which makes it a timely story and a 
brand new one.” 

“But, Tom, you would have won this fight 
even if I had never come. I cannot see that 
my work would have been a loss.” 

“But, Nelle, with all your experience can’t 


The Destroyers 


275 


you see any farther than Fenton? The joint 
meeting comes off in Indianapolis next week. 
It has been almost completely hidden by the 
strike, but It Is drawing close just the same. 
This action of the board is going to carry 
some weight In that conference; my success 
In standing against the strikers Is going to 
be a factor; the successful working of Im- 
ported labor must count ; the refusal to recog- 
nize the union, with the reasons therefor, will 
be used. These are Important points. I 
have not mentioned them before because I 
was fearful lest they be used unwittingly and 
I did not wish the public to learn too much. 
Even now I don’t want you to say anything, 
but you will be needed at that conference, and 
I am going to place you In a position to see 
and understand every move that Is made.” 

“How can I go to the conference? They 
sent me to Fenton, and Oiler will probably 
work that end of the story.” 

“You write to the office to-night, telling 
them you are on the trail of a good story If 
you follow me to the conference. They will 
be certain to send you. What Is the reason 
for keeping a good news-getter In this place 
when the principal source of news will be 
somewhere else ? Why Isn’t It better to send 


276 


The Destroyers 


the one who has obtained an understanding of 
the conditions to the conference city, prepared 
to follow up the story? Don’t you see they 
are sure to send you when you announce your 
opinion? Otherwise they might call you In 
and send some one else to Indianapolis.” 

“I’ll write to-night, then, and I do hope 
they will send me. I want to see you beat 
those fellows.” 

“Do you believe In my side of the fight, 
Nelle?” 

“Yes, Indeed, I do. I want to see you 
win, Tom, and I am willing to help you in 
every way I can. Just for the sake of old 
times, for ‘auld lang syne,’ Tom, I want to 
see you win. It’s glorious to see an old Eli 
man fighting against this aggregation and 
beating them out against odds.” 

“Phil and Jack have both recognized you, 
haven’t they?” asked Steele after a pause. 

“I am sure they have, though they have 
never made a sign.' Phil, I think, knew me 
the moment he saw me, but when you Intro- 
duced me as ‘Miss Biddle’ and said nothing 
further I suppose he thought It the better part 
of discretion to await developments. But, 
Tom, what was your reason for not wishing 
me to recognize two dear old friends?” 


The Destroyers 


277 


“The leading reason was that it might have 
led to complications in working out my ideas 
of publicity. I do not want Canby nor Kin- 
ney to know too much of my doings, even 
though they are the best of good friends and 
both want to see me win. But it would have 
given an opening for too many questions and 
they would have felt hurt if I had refused to 
answer or had evaded their questionings. 
Now that the best part of the affair is over 
for a while you may recognize them and make 
any excuses for not having done so before. 
Of course, they are certain by this time that I 
knew you, but they will be wise enough not to 
ask questions. Remember, now, write to the 
office to-night, and we’ll have a good time in 
Hoosiertown.” 

Steele called at the Spencer home to pay 
his respects and to tell Miss Markham the 
reasons why he had failed to be with her as 
he had promised a few nights before. 

“I am awfully glad to see you,” as she met 
him at the door. “I received your notes and 
was sorry to know that you were not well. 
You are looking fine this evening. Your arm 
is not bound, either; how does it feel? Can 
you use it much yet? Please be careful and 
take good care of it.” 


278 


The Destroyers 


Her attitude was surprising to him. He 
had not been so warmly greeted for several 
weeks and had not expected it to-night, since 
he felt so guilty of the lies he told her; he 
imagined she must certainly be able to see the 
deception, and hence treat him coldly. Often 
enough had she said that a liar was an 
abomination in her sight, and that no one who 
lied to her, however trivial or momentous the 
question, need expect to hold her friendship. 
Quite merrily had they argued the subject of 
lying, Steele always taking the opposing 
position. In these discussions she had always 
understood his reason for opposing her, she 
thought, and had found as much pleasure in 
being Puritanic as he had in finding the many 
nice reasons and excuses for the telling of 
a falsehood. He had lied but very, very 
rarely to her, rather using ambiguity of ex- 
pression to lead her away. 

When last they parted there had been a 
strained feeling, produced by the warning and 
accusations of misunderstanding. With 
pretty tact she was bridging this chasm to- 
night and unconsciously heaping coals of fire 
upon his head. 

“Were you not a little bold to-day in that 
arbitration conference? Mr. Spencer is in a 


The Destroyers 


279 


perfect rage over it,” as they took seats in 
front of the grate fire. “He says you have 
ruined all the good you did the other day, and 
even says you have lost your case.” 

Steele, gazing into the fire, smiled as she 
spoke, and was silent a moment, nodding 
assent either to what she said or to his own 
thoughts. 

“I expected he would see it that way. The 
dear old fellow is not a politician and doesn’t 
know the game. Peculiar how a fine mind 
like his, one so well versed in the complexities 
of complicated business, should not be able to 
grasp a situation which is so plain. Why, 
Miss Markham, this has been the best day 
for me since the trouble began. Public sym- 
pathy has been with me pretty generally for 
several days and to-day’s proceedings seem to 
me to have moulded popular opinion to match 
my patterns. Certainly there are good 
friends who thoroughly believe I have ruined 
my cause or, at least, injured it. The enor- 
mity of it all, looming out of the fog so sud- 
denly, and close upon them, has overwhelmed 
them with fear. It is surprise and fear 
more than anything else. When they have 
had time to look at the matter in every light 
they will come to understand the position I 


28 o 


The Destroyers 


hold and then they shall see that my move 
was a good one.” 

“It was all a set plan, then? It was not a 
sudden turn?” 

“Of course it was planned. Wouldn’t you, 
being in my position, have foreseen what they 
would ask? Wouldn’t you have planned to 
make a counter-demand or accept theirs ? 
My idea was the counter-demand and it suc- 
ceeded, which shows it was worth the 
while.” 

She watched him intently, watched the play 
of satisfaction across his face, his eyes and 
mouth brighten into a smile as he spoke ; she 
saw the look of cynicism vanish entirely, and 
in its place came frankness and simplicity, 
honesty of expression, and truth. His usual 
ambiguity was not present, his sentences be- 
ing clear-cut, guileless manifestations of what 
he thought and believed within himself. To- 
night he seemed to be unburdening to her, as 
she had wished some time he would, and her 
interest, risen again to its own plane, found 
her receptive. 

Just at this juncture, however, he shifted 
the trend of conversation gradually away, and 
soon they were talking of matters of more 
mutual interest, but just as particular. 


The Destroyers 


281 


He had never evinced more than a casual 
interest in her life on the Continent, and this 
evening surprised her with his questions about 
her art, her “life-work,” and the manner in 
which she had studied it in Paris; how the 
student colony lived and worked and enjoyed 
itself; what the American colony really was 
and a comparison of its life in the French 
capital with the way it conducted itself in 
American cities. His keen interest and the 
naive questions he propounded aroused her to 
eloquent discussion. Through her years as a 
student in Paris she traveled again, telling a 
prettily connected story, as only the educated, 
observant traveler can do. If Steele’s idea 
was but a trick to lead her away from the 
strike situation he succeeded admirably; so 
well, in fact, that his feigned interest became 
sincere as he listened with rapt attention to 
her story. 

She told of Phil, newly come over to rep- 
resent a New York paper, and his adventures 
and struggles ; how he had successfully coped 
with older men as a special correspondent and 
how he became disgusted and disconsolate 
when an army of college men, grads and un- 
dergrads, swarmed into all the foreign capi- 
tals to play the part of special correspondents 


282 


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at prices ridiculously low and ruinous to the 
older, more settled men of the profession. 
She told what a good friend the Yale man had 
been to her, and how they had enjoyed each 
other’s company in the gay capital. 

“By the way, Mr. Steele,” after they had 
crossed the great pond to America, “what 
frat pin is that which Miss Biddle wears?” 

“When did you notice her wearing a frat 
pin?” he asked in reply, with a tone of igno- 
rance concerning the piece of jewelry. 

“In your room, of course, when we called 
the other day. It looked very much like a Phi 
Del, but I couldn’t see it very well. You 
know, it always interests me to see a girl 
wearing a frat pin. Perhaps you might call it 
a species of envy — I have never worn one.” 

“Well, well; I’ll see that Jack decorates 
you with the collegiate legion of honor. I 
notice he has stuck pretty well to his pin.” 

“What has ever become of yours? Phil 
says you were a big frat man in your day.” 

“I gave mine to a college sweetheart, away 
back in my second year.” 

“And you have never received it back or 
bought another?” 

“No; you see, there is a great deal of 
sentiment attached to a frat pin, especially 


The Destroyers 283 

when a fellow gives it to a girl whom he has 
loved through two whole years.” 

“What became of her?” 

“Dropped out of sight while I was in 
Europe. That was ten years ago.” 

“Why don’t you try to find her again? 
That would be awfully romantic, you know.” 

“What is the use of going to the trouble?” 
he answered with a smile, his eyes again cen- 
tered on the glowing embers in the grate. 
“Possibly she is so changed now that I would 
not know her, or she may have married. Be- 
sides, all that was back in the sophomoric 
days — ten years make great changes in the 
heart throbs.” 

He turned his gaze to her, his hands 
clasped about one knee, holding the foot from 
the floor; looked at her smilingly a moment 
and continued: 

“After ten years, you know, one may meet 
some one for whom he may learn to care a 
great deal. Don’t you think?” 

“Would he care as much as he did for his 
college sweetheart?” 

“They say a man’s memories of his first 
love go up in smoke, you know,” he replied 
evasively. 

“I don’t believe that always holds true. 


284 


The Destroyers 


Some men are so different from the way the 
philosophers have them pictured.” 

“Which shows their philosophy is very un- 
philosophical,” rising. “One should not be- 
lieve any philosophy but his own, and there 
should be very few things about that.” 

Preparing to leave, he told her that he was 
soon to go to the conference in Indianapolis 
and that there was no certainty about the 
time of his return. 

“It will be a long, hard light. They will 
make demands which we shall not meet, and I 
think it will end in a breach.” 

“You are going there to carry this trouble 
even farther?” 

“Yes, even farther. I am going to carry 
it to the test. Labor’s demands have gone 
too far; we have been conceding too much. 
The radical socialistic trend must be broken, 
and there is no time like now time. From 
present indications we have the upper hand, 
and if my opinion carries any weight, I am 
going to close that hand.” 

“You would crush these poor laborers, 
these toilers for bread?” 

“Not the toilers — but the radical ideas they 
are trying to put into practice,” 


The Destroyers 285 

‘‘You will treat the union in the conference 
as you have here?” 

“I shall go farther if I can. I shall use 
every energy to crush it out of existence un- 
less it comes to a realization of its own 
danger and retreats from its socialistic atti- 
tude.” 

“But they are strong in numbers. You 
may lose.” 

“Lose we shall not. They must toil to 
earn their bread, and we shall win by taking 
from them that by which they live.” 

“You would starve them into submission?” 

“Starve them we must. I’m in this fight to 
win — and win I shall !” 


CHAPTER XVIII 


Here began the battle of the strong. The 
success of the Steele collieries against the coal 
workers’ union had its effect upon operators 
throughout the country. Quietly had meet- 
ings and conferences been held between these 
operators for weeks past, at each of which 
were read letters and explanations from 
Steele. The movement, begun eight years be- 
fore, which had struggled season after season, 
now crystallized rapidly. 

The walking delegates had been busily en- 
gaged for some time in seeking out informa- 
tion of all secret meetings of operators. 
There are always persons who boast how 
much they know of well-covered subjects, and 
the walking delegates had not been remiss in 
their duty of finding the wise ones. Evidence, 
great stacks of it, was collected for the joint 
conference. A walking delegate has a calling 
peculiarly his own. 

These were exciting days in the Hoosier 
capital. Following the custom the operators 
and miners met separately during the first 
week, each side organizing for the ensuing 


The Destroyers 


287 


year, preparing demands, requests and 
memorials for presentation by one to the 
other, and appointing the committees which 
were to engineer the various contests. 

The list of demands made by the miners 
and presented on the second day of the joint 
conference was a lengthy one. It is a rule, 
followed strictly and with much show of sin- 
cerity, that the list of demands shall always 
be a long document; the same idea is em- 
ployed when injured individuals sue corpora- 
tions for damages — claim an overplus so that 
the cutting process will leave about what was 
needed or expected in the beginning. The 
more talkative of the union officials and dele- 
gates had systematically allowed many of the 
proposed demands to be voiced in the pres- 
ence of newspaper-men. But a few hours and 
the public knew in a measure what to expect 
when the document was presented to the joint 
meeting. On the other hand, the operators 
had little to say, and that only along general 
lines. More than on previous occasions their 
batteries were masked, their plans of attack 
and defense were held secret in the minds of 
the ablest generals ever martialled into com- 
bat as leaders of the army of capital. Aggre- 
gate wealth has had some excellent leaders, 


288 


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else aggregate wealth could never have been 
so commanding an influence. Exposes of 
trust methods, inside grafting, and the many 
tricks by which corporations had won or 
purchased gigantic powers, had resulted in 
the reduction of weak leaders and the promo- 
tion of the stronger ones. Even here had the 
law of the survival of the fittest been tested 
and found infallibly constitutional. 

Among the many things asked by labor 
were full and complete recognition of the 
union in all departments of mining, twenty 
per cent advance in wages, not less than three 
days of work in each week, a seven-hour day, 
and the operators to collect at payday from 
each man the sum of one dollar, to be turned 
over to the national organization. To the 
entire list of demands it was apparent the 
operators would immediately non-concur. 
They saw in the collection of that small sum 
from each laborer the beginning of a gigantic 
fund with which labor could fight capital on 
its own ground; the building of a war chest 
for a power which, when the chest was 
sufficiently large, would become a mighty 
enemy. Because of the falling off of orders 
at certain seasons of the year they could not 
grant three days of work in each week, and 


The Destroyers 


289 


thus, for many weeks in the year, operate at 
a distinct loss, or stock up great piles of 
product for which there could be no demand. 
This clause was plainly an effort to break all 
proposed or planned lockouts. 

The debate waxed warm as the day wore 
on, and there was no promise that the miners 
would reduce their demands. The conference 
was public and, as the news of the long- 
expected clash was posted in front of the 
newspaper offices, the requests for seats in the 
gallery increased. It was late in the after- 
noon, during a lull, when Steele was 
recognized by the chair. Until now he had 
not been a conspicuous figure in the activities 
of the conference. Sitting quietly, close to 
the front, and in a commanding position to 
see and hear, he had spent most of his time 
seemingly engrossed in the morning papers. 

Steele, the Mighty, was to speak! The 
man whose troubles in the neighboring State 
had attracted national attention, who had 
been caricatured by a wild press, whose 
features every paper had printed on its first 
page during the week past, who had refused 
interviewing and dogged reporters; the man 
whose power in the financial world was 
19 


290 


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unquestioned, whose word In his State 
politics was little less than law, whose fight 
against “entrenched labor” was the sensation 
of the day — he was to speak! Delegates on 
the floor, half asleep, sat up, and those who 
had risen In the galleries and were about to 
leave because of the drearisome temperate- 
ness, resumed their seats with renewed 
interest. 

Coolly, deliberately, he walked forward, 
approaching the platform at the left of the 
chair and taking a position on the lower of 
the two steps, he faced the hall. Before him 
on the floor were distinctly two classes, 
separated from each other by the right aisle. 
On the farther side a small band of fashion- 
ably dressed men, every piece of clothing, 
their ease of position and their calm attentive- 
ness writing them as men of affluence, culture 
and refinement. On the nearer side the much 
larger crowd, motley, mixed, mosaic ; as many 
different styles of dress as wearers, as many 
different expressions as countenances, though 
they could all be classed as defiant; some 
sprawled, some lounged, most assuming 
positions wholly unbecoming a body parlia- 
mentary, attempting to go before the public 
with one side of a popular question. At such 


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291 


times there are ever these distinctions to be 
drawn between the so-called “classes” and 
the “masses.” Such distinction there should 
not be. No man should deem it a character- 
istic of his “masses,” this failure to appear 
the gentleman. Whether a gathering of 
“classes” or “masses,” it ever becomes a man 
to sit and stand and appear in all ways like a 
gentleman. Clothes may not define the man, 
but the manner of their wearing does ; as does 
also his posture, whether sitting or standing; 
and, too, the attention which he offers to 
others, whether friends or foes. 

Steele’s eyes, keen, alert, picked here and 
there the delegates toward whom to direct his 
remarks ; then wandered easily upward to the 
gallery, noting the eagerness and attentive- 
ness, catching now and then a break of color 
in the dull mass of black, proclaiming the 
presence of the fairer sex. Calmly he swept 
the semicircle from right to — there sat Edith, 
Edith Markham, directly on the left! She 
was almost immediately above the union’s 
chief executive and leader. Why should she 
be here? And she had told him nothing, 
given him no hint! Was she^ — could she — 
but it was time to begin. 

“Mr. Chairman and Fellow Delegates: In 


292 


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all years previous it has been the custom for 
employers and representatives of employees 
in this joint conference to come to an agree- 
ment by the acceptance of the miners’ 
demands on the part of the operators, or by 
the miners’ reduction of their demands until 
they were within the limits of acceptance. 
During these years the organization of 
employees has grown stronger and, with that 
strength, has grown bolder. So emboldened 
has it become that to-day, drunk, maudlin 
drunk with its successes, that organization 
presents to these operators a list of demands 
as long as the list of the two previous con- 
ferences. Attempting to appear down- 
trodden, trying to gain public sympathy by 
various tricks and stratagems, that body 
comes before this conference and demands 
that operators give them their rights. What 
rights have we taken that we should return 
to you? 

“Rights, rights, gentlemen, you wish your 
rights ! So you shall have them ! How many 
union men are property owners ? How many 
union miners are completely free of debt? 
Not one per cent. Why? Because in every 
mining community there are ninety-nine per 
cent who are drinkers and gamblers, proved 


The Destroyers 


293 


by the fact that saloonists and cheap 
gamblers of every sort abide in numbers and 
grow rich. Filled with vile liquor, influenced 
beyond normal mental activity, excited, wild, 
crazed by intemperance, that ninety-nine per 
cent gather in their local halls to hurl epithets 
at operators, to plan strikes and dissensions, 
to concoct schemes of arson and murder — ” 
Half the delegates on the left of the hall 
were on their feet, jeering and hissing, the 
union president calling loudly for the atten- 
tion of the chair. Four or five were on chairs, 
waving their arms wildly, yelling back 
defiance. The chairman’s gavel pounded 
noisily upon his desk for order but only added 
to the din. Order there was not. Steele 
stood in his place, quiet, outwardly tranquil, 
a calm smile overspreading his face. His 
words had struck horne. Two minutes passed 
in this way. Then, stepping back to the chair- 
man, he seized the gavel and brought it down 
three times with tremendous force, his left 
arm lifted in command to silence. Almost 
immediately the noise ceased. 

“Gentlemen, this conference should be con- 
ducted with order — ” 

“We won’t listen to you, you liar!” 
screamed a voice from the rear of the hall. 


294 The Destroyers 

Steele smiled and brought the gavel down 
again. 

“Please be seated, gentlemen.” 

Reluctantly they dropped into their places, 
scraping chairs back and forth with much 
show of impatience and defiance. 

Returning the gavel to the chairman, Steele 
resumed his place on the steps. 

“In discussing the present deadlock I 
probably presented the facts to you too 
luridly.” 

He glanced for the first time toward the 
gallery since beginning his speech. Edith 
was there, leaning forward, absorbed in the 
meeting, her eyes directly on him. As he 
looked up she bowed to him and smiled. It 
was a bow and a smile, not of friendliness 
alone, but of appreciation and approval I She 
approved — at last? Then the fight was 
worth the while; it would be more of glory 
now to win ! She could see, and, possibly, 
understand, the great contest of the middle 
road, the road where no shelter held back the 
sun nor storm, where men fought and 
struggled, and stood or fell — the battle of the 
strong ! 

“I shall not hark back to the subject which 
gave you so much pain, gentlemen, but come 


The Destroyers 


295 


immediately to the point I desire to make. It 
has always been the plan for committees to 
receive and consider the demands of the 
union, recommending acceptance or rejection, 
and, in' case of rejection, offering counter- 
propositions. Such is the method of diplo- 
macy and conciliation. It- is the method used 
when two opponents are fearful, one of the 
other, when one is trying to gain the 
advantage. 

“This idea of appointing committees and 
allowing them to aid in bringing about a 
settlement of differences is a good one — if 
both parties to contracts signed on the con- 
ference basis of agreement can be held to 
their contracts. At the present time they 
cannot. The union may have good reasons, 
or may trump up poor but useful ones, and go 
out on strike at any time; a union man may 
stay away from his work the full limit of the 
time allowed, yet his place must remain 
unfilled ; he may belong to a very, very 
important committee and is empowered to 
leave work at any. time of day to see the 
employer, while the employer pays for the 
time; he may become incompetent for work 
from several causes, yet he is protected in 
his robbery of the employer and, perhaps, the 


296 


The Destroyers 


endangering of many lives by the organiza- 
tion to which he belongs. Contract or no 
contract, whenever he thinks or imagines he 
is being imposed upon or is not attaining 
wealth rapidly enough, he sets about to 
foment dissatisfaction.” 

Again several delegates among the miners 
rose from their places, as if to interrupt. 
Steele paused, mounted to the top step and, 
pointing toward those who had risen, 
addressed them : 

“Kindly be seated, gentlemen; you would 
interrupt me before you know what I am to 
say. There will be plenty of time for you 
to answer when I have done. This is not a 
gag-rule body, but is intended to hear all 
complaints in order that a proper adjustment 
may be brought about. When I have finished 
I shall be glad to hear every answer.” 

One by one, led by a burly Irishman from 
Ohio, a district president who had been close 
to deposition from office because of inactivity, 
the half-dozen who had gained their feet in 
protest to Steele’s open declaration, resumed 
their seats. The speaker proceeded : 

“The vital point in this affair, the crux of 
the whole situation, as I see it, is the fact that 
the union under the present system of organi- 


The Destroyers 


297 


zation is not a tangible being. It may break 
contracts with impunity, by allowing its 
members to do so. Who can be forced to pay 
the loss which the operator suffers? No one. 
It is a one-sided game. The slightest change 
of sentiment, a personal difficulty or dislike, 
or any small industrial undercurrent causes 
many union men to strike. Capital cannot 
move. We are held in the grasp of an 
octopus more powerful in its destructive influ- 
ences to society, to government, to individual 
liberty, than any autocracy in the Old World. 
Your president, your district officers, and your 
walking delegates together compose a bureau- 
cracy more intensely injurious to society than 
that of all the Russias. Your — ” 

“You’re a liar!” screamed the union 
president, as he leaped to his feet. Instantly 
the whole body of labor delegates rose in a 
very storm of protest against the speaker, 
yelling, jeering, hissing. The chairman 
pounded vainly with the gavel and called for 
order. Pandemonium had loosed itself. 
The operators on the right side of the hall 
were on their feet, howling to the chairman 
for order or yelling at those on the other side 
in an effort to have them seated. The miners 
misunderstood ; they interpreted the action of 


298 


The Destroyers 


the operators as being an enforcement upon 
them of what they did not wish to hear: a 
denunciation of their organization, the 
arraignment of their officials. Becoming even 
more wild at the movement of the delegates 
opposite them, the miners moved in an 
irregularly solid body toward the platform. 
Steele stood quietly in his place, leaning 
against the railing, until the movement began 
in his direction. Then, lifting his hand, he 
beckoned toward the far end of the hall, the 
exit to the right side. At his signal policemen 
hurried down the aisle on that side, which 
was clear since the operators had moved 
toward the left. With nothing to hinder 
them, the police gained the rear of the plat- 
form and advanced upon the mob. At the 
sight of the stalwart guardians of the peace 
the miners stopped for a moment, then, mob- 
like, furious at this attempt of the govern- 
ment to hold their anger in check, they yelled 
and hooted more loudly, waving their hats 
in anger and shaking their fists at the minions 
of the law. Steele stepped aside to allow of 
the passage of the police from the platform 
to the floor. Sturdily the five big fellows 
advanced on the crowd of miners, brandishing 
their clubs and calling on them to fall back, 


The Destroyers 


299 


to leave the hall or to take their seats. With 
decreasing yells of derision the awe-struck 
mob gradually dropped back to their places 
and took seats, muttering their curses on the 
law and on Steele. 

The law held its reign. Here, in a confer- 
ence designed for the purpose of extending 
peace throughout the industrial sections of 
the middle West, the discordant elements had 
made themselves felt and heard around the 
world, but had fallen back to an ominous 
quiet in the face of an enforced law. The 
effect which the law and government has upon 
the mentality is great indeed. Representing 
the government, a handful of sturdy, strong, 
courageous men have ever been able to put 
down the strongest of uprisings. This holds, 
of course, only where government is popular 
or nearly so, and the law being enforced is 
recognized by the inner mind as just. The 
inner mind, the subjective, capable of purest 
reasoning, having perfect memory, and reten- 
tive of all naturally correct processes of logic, 
that which distinguishes right from wrong, 
and which we may sometimes call intuitive, is 
that which brings obedience to the law when 
the law is right. There are times when condi- 
tions seem to point to tyranny on the part of 


300 


The Destroyers 


those who represent government; under these 
Gonditions men rise in anger and protest. 
With the government in strong hands, believ- 
ing in the rightfulness of their deeds, it will 
reign; for just here the subjective mind of the 
contestants controls, recognizing right if 
there be right. If there be wrong, the subjec- 
tive mind, recognizing the false, acts with the 
outer mind, under which conditions the mob 
will control against a most powerful govern- 
mental aristocracy. 

Steele took a seat well behind the rail while 
the police were quieting the miners, and here 
waited. Facing in that direction he could 
easily glance upward to the gallery where sat 
Edith smiling down on him as his gaze met 
hers. Had she understood the stern realities 
of this conference, and yet smiled at him? 
Was she able to see his plans, to trace his 
sentences even further, perhaps to the point 
which he might have soon reached had he not 
been interrupted? Was it possible that in 
this moment when most he needed the moral 
support of his best friends, she approved his 
words, his actions of the past, and the evident 
plan of the future? His heart bounded 
within him at her smile — it meant the winning 
of this fight. It meant for him to battle until, 


The Destroyers 


301 


himself being proved the fittest, would sur- 
vive ! Aye, with her smile to comfort him in 
these hours of dissension and strife, in 
moments when danger impended, when all the 
strength of mind and body was needed to 
overcome the opposition, he would carry the 
fight to the bitter end. For such a boon he 
would, he must, win ! 

Fully a quarter of an hour passed before 
the conference was in readiness to resume its 
business. The chairman rapped for order 
several times and at last was successful in 
gaining the attention of the majority. 

“What is your pleasure, gentlemen?” 

“I rise to a point of order, Mr. Chairman; 
I have the floor,” spoke Steele, quietly and 
firmly, as he rose. 

“Move this body adjourn until nine to- 
morrow,” yelled the union president. 

“Second! Second!” came loud voices from 
that side. 

“Mr. Chairman, I have but little more to 
say, and I must be heard.” Steele was 
insistent in his attitude, but again came the 
cry of the union men. 

“Motion before the house! Move to 
adjourn !” 

“I know it is against the rules of this body. 


302 


The Destroyers 


but I must insist on being heard. Hear me 
now, or hear me in public print this evening !” 
he fairly roared. 

Only a muffled rumble came from the left, 
and Steele proceeded : 

“I have stated to you my opinion of the 
present union organization. No more need 
be said. My last statement is this: 1 shall 
not accept the demands of the union as 
presented to this body. I have decided to 
work my mines as I see fit, without the aid or 
consent of the coal workers’ union, with what- 
ever men shall apply for work, if, in my 
opinion, they are competent. I shall observe 
the laws of the State and those of humanity. 
I hereby announce that I shall immediately 
raise the wages five per cent, pay in cash each 
fortnight, and shall work my collieries despite 
the protests and cries of all the unions on 
earth ! When the coal miners’ union 
organizes in such a way that I shall be assured 
its members will be forced to stand by the 
contracts, I shall be the first man to sign with 
that union and recognize that union in all 
matters to do with the digging of coal !” 


CHAPTER XIX 


Steele had withdrawn hastily from the con- 
ference, saying that his presence could now 
lend nothing conciliatory, that his ultimatum 
was given. With this action the entire body 
went to pieces. Several labor leaders, seeing 
that nothing would be done by the remaining 
operators to save the body from adjourning 
sine die, tried to save the day, but failed in 
their effort. The newspapers of the city and 
all that part of the country were rapidly 
taking the view which Steele’s pronuncia- 
mento had brought out so plainly; this in 
itself was a powerful argument to those who 
yet weakly espoused the cause of union labor, 
and many came over to the side of the 
operators. The galleries filled with people 
who appeared in every way to favor the 
employers, cheering the short talks of the 
operators while the wild efforts of the labor 
leaders and organizers, the only strength of 
the unions at the critical moment, were met 
with silence or very weak applause. 

The union president made a plea for public 
sympathy on the day after the withdrawal 


304 


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of Steele from the conference, following 
which came short, decisive talks from 
operators, plain, to the point, clear-cut in 
their directness, explaining that they had 
nothing to gain by remaining in the confer- 
ence after the withdrawal of one of the 
leaders in the business. 

Adjournment came in a few hours, when, 
on the afternoon of the day following Steele’s 
leaving the hall, only four of the operators 
came to the session. These, even, remained 
in their seats but ten or fifteen minutes and 
withdrew quietly to the lobby, boarded cars, 
and started for their hotels. It was the first 
time in history that a conference had so dis- 
solved. The newspapers issued great black- 
lettered extras, dishing out to the news-hungry 
people every incident of the several meetings, 
pictures of men and scenes, with bordered 
stories of the miners’ demands and the 
speeches of Steele and operators who had 
succeeded him on the floor. They were 
thorough-going newspapers, these, giving the 
bare facts as they really existed, the incidents 
as they occurred and pictures of the principal 
scenes, taken by quick, wide-awake fellows 
who must have been constantly in the press 
box, for the scenes when the police were driv- 


The Destroyers 


305 


ing the miners’ delegates to their seats were 
taken at the critical moment. The whole 
series of extras, though not calculated to have 
that effect, perhaps, were arguments distinctly 
in favor of the operators. The entire city 
was a-roar with the story. The miners were 
condemned for their demands and their wild 
actions on the floor of the conference. 

Though Steele proceeded immediately to 
Fenton the news had beaten him by several 
hours, the Times, coming from the State 
metropolis, giving two entire pages over to 
the conference sessions. Besides the regular 
stories from the press association there were 
several long articles from the special repre- 
sentative, Miss Nelle Bidwell, which pictured 
many details. 

The coming of the operator into Fenton 
was at midday, at that time the usually large 
crowd of the unemployed and the curious, 
together with the regular loungers, having 
gathered about the depot. Groups of miners 
were discussing reports from the conference, 
the all-absorbing subject of converse and 
thought in all coal-mining regions. When 
the long train pulled in Steele’s arrival was 
at first unnoticed, though a moment after hi? 

20 


3o6 


The Destroyers 


alighting from the coach, as he hurried along 
through the crowd, a wild yell went up. 
“There’s the scab!” seemed to have been 
chosen as the general greeting by the miners, 
for these words constituted the intelligible 
portion of the derisive cries. Nothing of 
violence, though, was attempted. Several of 
the younger set of toughs crushed and pushed 
their way after him, continuing their yelling, 
but going no further. At the depot end of 
the platform he leaped into his machine and 
was rapidly driven to the mansion on the hill. 

The next day’s paper told in glaring head- 
lines, large pictures, and actively written 
stories of the walkout of the operators and 
of the gigantic failure on the part of the 
labor leaders to hold the conference together. 
“The Union Defeated!” appeared across the 
front page of the Times, The local papers. 
Tribune and Press, gave press association 
news, and a short but sharp interview from 
Steele. The union defeated! Aye, there lay 
the whole story in three small words — the 
union defeated! Fenton, accustomed by this 
time to expect almost any change, almost any 
extreme of action or expression, could but sit 
agog at this. The union defeated! Was it 
possible that a handful of men, even of 


The Destroyers 


307 


wealth, had dared defy that numerically 
gigantic body of workers? Was it possible 
that Steele would continue his collieries on 
full time at an advance in the wage scale, 
without union labor, and expect to win? Yet 
plainly this was the plan ; he had so stated it 
in the conference, again in the Tribune and 
the Press, and now by the posting of great 
placards on every billboard. Fenton lived 
fearfully and talked in whispers on that day 
after Steele’s arrival. The absence of noise 
and demonstration seemed portentous. What 
would the outcome be? Were the miners 
whipped into submission by this boldness? 
Would there be no demonstrative resentment 
of this complete assumption of authority over 
the industrial world? 

Nightfall brought answers to the questions, 
answers which Fenton will never forget, 
which will be handed down from generation 
to generation, like myths and fairy stories. 

The entire force about the two mines, 
north and south, were busy during the day at 
straightening fallen timbers on the lots, 
cleaning the offices, unpacking boxes marked 
“pickhandles” and smaller ones of “lead 
pipe,” hauling more cars to the spur tracks 
preparatory to rapid unloading of coal from 


3o8 


The Destroyers 


the shafts, overhauling the engine and boiler 
rooms, and taking away all the unnecessary 
material which had been gathered at various 
times about the mouths of the shafts. Only a 
small number of the negroes worked below, 
just enough to keep the entries and rooms in 
repair, to clear the tracks, take care of the 
mules, and inspect the air supply and water 
and gas flows. The remainder labored the 
day through, even more than the customary 
eight hours, though the whistle blew at the 
regular time for the cessation of work. Over- 
time was used in renovating the upper works 
and the ground about the mines. 

The Press, coming out in the evening 
edition, announced the great preparations 
which were being made at the Steele collieries, 
and continued the story to the length of 
reciting that Steele purposed the importation 
of several hundred additional miners with 
which to operate his mines regularly, filling 
every order that came his way and all that his 
salesmen could get. Besides these he had 
obtained good orders for supplying the two 
railroads which passed on either side of the 
north and south shafts. The increase of the 
wage scale, which he had announced at the 
joint conference^ was to go into effect at once; 


The Destroyers 


309 


any miners who desired work could obtain it 
by application at the office, though organiza- 
tions of no kind would be recognized. Com- 
petency was all the Steele collieries demanded. 
The Press article covered half the front page 
and was well told, not bearing the mark of 
“inspiration.” 

Just before midnight, when even gayest 
Fenton was almost completely quiet, the 
answers came to the questions which had been 
asked during the day. Canby, from a posi- 
tion which he had taken at the outermost part 
of the upper works of mine No. i, was the 
first to discover anything unusual, though not 
unexpected; for there was reason in Canby’s 
being in the tower at this hour of night. 
Steele had calculated on an attack from the 
angered, almost maddened, miners, and had 
prepared for it. Canby’s news of the 
gathering of a considerable crowd, quickly but 
quietly, to the south of the shaft, came as no 
surprise. Signals were flashed from the office 
by Steele himself to those stationed at the 
barricades and in the many windows of the 
upper works. By means of telephone Canby 
kept the office informed of every move of the 
gathering crowd, though he must speak in 
general terms, as the night was dark and he 


310 


The Destroyers 


was at his wits’ end to translate and transcribe 
the meaning of many shadowy forms dis- 
covered flitting at a distance of several 
hundred yards. 

At some evidently pre-arranged signal the 
crowd came toward the mine on a run. No 
noise floated out to the watchers save the 
trample of hurrying feet. Vocal sound there 
was none. Anxiously the men behind the 
barricades waited for a signal from the office, 
but minute after minute went by and, though 
they listened intently, they heard little of 
danger approaching, for the coming crowd 
stopped when close to the wall, stooped low 
and waited, while forms hurried here and 
there, possibly giving last orders and 
directions. That it was to be an attack on the 
mine there could not be the slightest doubt, 
neither could it be questioned that plans of 
campaign had been well laid. 

Slowly the aggressors began again their 
onward movement. They reached the walls. 
Of a sudden forms appeared on top — and the 
final signal flashed from the office. In a 
moment the air was rent with rifle and pistol 
shots, the shrieks of injured and frightened 
men, the yells of those behind the barricades, 
while intermittent belches of fire from 


The Destroyers 


311 

weapons held in defensive hands lighted the 
scene for several moments. Pandemonium 
reigned, shrieking and screaming its 
dominion, howling, moaning, whining its rule 
over the fear and awe-struck hearts of men. 

Hours they seemed, but in reality only a 
few minutes passed, and all was done. The 
attack was repelled so furiously and with 
such surprise and intensity that those who 
were not hurt retreated in disgraceful dis- 
order, leaving their brothers lying by the 
walls where they had fallen, groaning and 
crying for help, in their wild imaginings 
picturing their immediate slaughter by a 
horde of savage negroes from behind those 
walls. So perfect had been the organization 
within the barricades that before the towns- 
people gathered on the scene, attracted by the 
shots and cries, the injured and fallen were 
within, being cared for by white men, while 
messages were hurried to nearby doctors for 
medical attention. With the admission of 
only those who had been summoned, and 
several newspaper-men, the gates were closed, 
securely barred, and all the curious held on 
the outside. 

Morning brought unanimity of opinion 
among the citizens of the city. The early 


312 


The Destroyers 


editions of the Tribune and the Press gave 
the story of the attack and the repulse. 
Nothing might have been added to make the 
stories more realistic or sensationaL 

Fortunately none of the injured aggressors 
was seriously hurt; this news brought full 
vindication to Steele. He had repelled an 
attack of the miners, intent on forced invasion 
of property, and had cared for their wounds 
as soon as the fight had ended. That he was 
prepared for the fight was of little moment, 
and was not considered by the people, except 
in praise of his sagacity and foresight in the 
protection of the lives of his men and his 
property. 

The backbone of the strike in Fenton was 
completely broken. At every turn had the 
union met defeat. Steele had outgeneraled 
and outfought them at every issue. His bold- 
ness and his courage stood uppermost, a 
fitting crown to the dignity with which he had 
held himself during the trouble. 

At noon that day four companies of State 
militia, infantry, were on the old camp- 
ground. The Mayor and the Sheriff had 
wired the Governor of their inability to con- 
trol the situation. There was naught else but 
to establish martial law in the war-ridden city. 


The Destroyers 


313 


Industrial strike had gone to extremes. The 
principle of the government of the people, 
by the people and for the people must be 
upheld. The exigencies of the case, the 
clamor of public opinion, and the confessed 
inability of the constituted authorities to con- 
trol swept aside whatever qualms the State 
Executive may have had. The people, 
through their duly chosen representatives, had 
given to him the opportunity to bring peaceful 
and peaceable conditions, which could only 
be done by a show of force. Steele had long 
since asked protection, and since that refusal 
two riotic nights had been suffered. 

Away into the illimitable, boundless -dis- 
tance, farther and farther, the Governor saw 
his hopes go glimmering — one, the hope for 
re-election, the other of senatorial honor. 
The act of sending troops at this time would 
in no way bridge the chasm between him and 
Steele, the political stormcloud of the State. 
How powerful the Steele interests could make 
themselves was amply shown in the recent 
conference. And there was Stratton, — that 
single derelict, floating aimlessly, helplessly, 
wind and tempest tossed in the political sea, — 
a living, breathing evidence of the terrors of 
the stormcloud. 


314 The Destroyers 

He doubted not that he could easily be 
re-elected, if the nomination fell to him, for 
Morley and Shea had promised the labor vote 
if he stood by labor in this crisis. He had 
followed that lead. But labor could not force 
the nomination to seek him out, for county 
delegates, chosen by the political ringleaders 
of every district, would not come to the con- 
vention with instructions to vote for the 
Governor for another term. Knowing some- 
thing of the inner workings of the Steele 
machinery he realized that even now the 
silent-moving cogs were locking teeth and 
turning over little wheels, far in the interior; 
and he knew, or felt he knew, they wrought 
not favorably to him. In some distant 

millenium the actual people, the commoners, 
the wage-earners, tl>e toilers in the day’s 

work, may have voice in the naming of those 
who shall sit in official positions; but now, 
in the living, mighty present those names are 
pronounced from the seats of the mighty, by 
the golden voice of vested interests and 

aggregate wealth. To them must hope and 

ambition look for the merits and the rewards 
for work well done. Reformers have risen 
in many ages with panaceas without number, 
each calculated to remedy the existing evil of 


The Destroyers 


315 


aristocracy, but each has failed of result; and 
results are the things to be measured, what- 
ever the standard, to test the strength and 
power of any movement. 

. With the military on the ground Steele felt 
more secure to continue his operation of the 
mines. Boys in blue are awesome to the mob- 
spirit, wherefore, save in most highly accen- 
tuated cases, those who are on the aggres- 
sive are quieted in the hearing of martial 
airs, the regular tread of marching feet, the 
bellowing of commands intelligible only to 
the decidedly elect, the clank of arms and the 
jingle of sword and scabbard. In this respect 
we have advanced no more than the plebeians 
in the fields of ancient Rome. Democratic 
and Republican though we may be, somewhat 
Puritanic, mayhap, in our preachments 
against an imperialistic and militaristic atti- 
tude, yet we never thrill so much, never 
become quite so patriotic, as in the review of 
well-trained troops, the sight of gold on a 
ground of blue or drab, and the gray of 
burnished arms glinting in the sunlight. Our 
respect for law and government becomes 
more deeply set, more readily recognized 
within ourselves, in the sturdy advance of 
troops. 


3i6 


The Destroyers 


As the soldier boys walked to the camp, 
bowing to friends, they smiled with a con- 
scious air of their importance to the world 
and to the city of Fenton in particular. They 
were here to-day to protect lives and property 
and to keep the dogs of industrial war from 
tearing each other’s throats. Miners lingered 
along the walks, watching, with angry 
glances, these fellows so intent upon protect- 
ing the plutocratic classes in the name of the 
law, mumbling their curses upon a govern- 
ment which found its right at such moments 
to throw soldiers in the way of an honest 
man’s honest attempt to gain the opportunity 
of making an honest day’s wage. Aye, the 
land was not free — it was ruled by aristo- 
crats, plutocrats, bureaucrats, with the power 
of gold by which they could crush in their 
awful dominion those not so high in the 
scale of wealth. It was the rule, of the rich, 
the reign of the wealthy demagogue ! 
History’s pages are writ with the blood of the 
poor and oppressed who have risen against 
such rule and put it down. What was there 
to keep them, the poor and oppressed in this 
small section, from rising now, or in the near 
future, against the militaristic control? They 
would not pass so easily under the yoke. 


The Destroyers 


317 


America, much vaunted land of the free, 
where every man is said to be born equal to 
his brother — ^America was surely not intended 
to be the locale of such scenes, where wealth 
could keep honest men from the jobs and 
could enforce the lockout by military rule, 
when peaceable attempts were made to settle 
the trouble. In groups the miners stood 
about the streets discussing the new situation, 
wondering if this was proof that the 
Governor had sold to the rich. They could 
not conceive how else he would concede to 
the demands of Steele. They were law-abid- 
ing citizens — why could the Mayor and the 
Sheriffs not say they were able to keep 
charge? Uninitiated in the underrules of 
business and politics, unschooled in the game 
of the middle road, these miners, drawn from 
every part of the earth, from every civiliza- 
tion, could not understand. Many being 
foreigners who had come from military-con- 
trolled, soldier-ridden lands on the other side, 
socialistic, almost nihilistic in their tendencies, 
saw in the presence of soldiers the iron hand 
of a bad ruler, an autocratic emperor, unfit to 
rule and who should be withdrawn, by force, 
if necessary. 

Steele partook of his dinner at the hotel. 


3 1 8 The Destroyers 

He was conscious of the many glances toward 
him while he dined; every stranger was 
apprised of the fact that he was the young 
operator who dared leave the joint conference 
after making a decided pronunciamento, who 
dared put his energies into a final contest with 
the coal miners’ union, the fellow who had so 
successfully repelled the invaders of the night 
before. As he finished his meal and was 
about to rise, a telegram was handed to him : 

“Congratulations on everything. Have 
just read papers. Letter coming. 

“Edith.” 


CHAPTER XX 


May-day came to find the Western States 
torn with strife, disagreement and dissension. 
Not one of the operators who had attended 
or was represented at the joint conference in 
Indianapolis would more than politely listen 
to the demands and appeals of the union 
officials. Time and again these officials, from 
the president of the national body to the 
district organizers, made frantic charges 
against the operators, trying to stimulate a 
socialistic undercurrent of feeling into action 
or expression, but to no avail. Through their 
own organs and through that part of the press 
which was yet controlled by those in favor of 
organized labor, they attempted to arraign 
the operators before the people as a body of 
relentless aristocrats bent on the destruction 
of the country, if needs be, that their ends 
might be attained — an end which these 
officials claimed was the employment of 
pauper labor, the crushing of American labor 
until it was but a peasantry and serfdom to 
which even the worst conditions of the least 


320 The Destroyers 

civilized of old countries could never com- 
pare. 

On the stated date, April i, true to their 
word, the miners throughout the bituminous 
districts of the West went out on strike. To 
them as a body the fight appeared as one 
which would easily be won. How many 
times before had the operators sternly refused 
to sign the wage scale and other agreements 
but had later been brought to terms by the 
stout refusal of the laborers to concede a 
single point! Times before had there been 
strikes, but each ended in victory for labor, 
sometimes questionable, but yet a victory. 
The body of miners little appreciated the 
difference between this struggle and those 
which had gone before. To them it presented 
no point of difference — just the same attempt 
of the operators to hold them down to “a 
mere pittance,” the same fight of labor to 
obtain what was its own by all rights of 
citizenship. Without any marks of differen- 
tiation they took it as the time-honored sale 
of a commodity to those who needed it, the 
argument being but as to price and a few 
other points over which there had always 
been a slight amount of quibbling. 

To the officials, mere men of the world, the 


The Destroyers 


321 


sharp corners of crudeness worn by travel and 
contact with other and more cultured men, 
this struggle presented itself in a broader 
light. Viewing it as a product of labor dis- 
agreements they would have seen no more 
than could be seen in a retrospective glance 
of the struggles which had been. But they 
saw something deeper, something more subtle, 
not strange, not unexpected, but powerful, 
growing stronger and more aggressive as the 
days passed. Even these officials, in their 
saner moments, when alone, with no one to see 
behind a constantly public-worn mask, looked 
upon the situation with eyes trained to see 
defects in self equally as much as in others, in 
one’s own organization as well as that of the 
employers; able to recognize and distinguish 
the weak spots in the defense as well as the 
weakness of the enemy. To those who might 
have been broader, but without depth of 
sight, it appeared as a political contest. Once 
before had labor tried with an outwardly 
powerful hand to govern the great forces of 
politics, but had signally failed, further than 
a plan that labor use the ballot-box for its 
friends and its friends alone. The inner work- 
ings of the game, the government of the multi- 


21 


322 


The Destroyers 


tudinous wheels within wheels, the diplomacy, 
tact, or wilful display of strength so necessary 
to a successful issue, they were not able to 
fathom. Even explanations of what had 
been done in certain fights could not lead them 
to a better insight — the game was for minds 
more complex, brains abler to work out the 
acute complications which rise at every turn 
in the modern issue at politics. 

Partisanship there may not be, so far as 
parties in American politics are concerned, 
for which reason these sans-depth leaders 
were incapable of understanding why the 
struggle be termed a political contest. The 
president of the union, a man who had 
traveled and who had brushed elbows with 
men of every calling in every plane of life, 
who had studied much and who possessed 
native Irish-American traits of foresight and 
humor, saw beyond the surface of this 
struggle the real forces as they battled for 
supremacy. So also did Morley — Morley, 
lobbyist, student of human nature, politician, 
diplomat, tactician. To his brilliant 
mentality, capable of grasping details far too 
minute for ordinary minds, the present fight 
was not the simple struggle which had been 
waged before in the American arena of indus- 


The Destroyers 323 

trialism. Covered with all the finesse of 
words in counter-demands, refusals and the 
various statements and refutations of the 
operators, the real elements did not make 
themselves apparent, save to those who held 
inside positions and were able, through 
knowledge of inner workings, to understand 
the differences between this latest struggle 
and all those which had gone. 

Thousands of miners in the Western and 
middle districts walked out on strike at the 
first of the month as confident of victory as 
ever men could be. It was but for them to 
hold out firmly for an indefinite period, and 
the operators, through loss of money, would 
come to see the error of their ways. But the 
employers were playing the game with new 
rules. Hardly had the striking miners gone 
out when hundreds of negroes were brought 
into the fields to take their places. Before 
the union leaders and watchmen discovered 
the working of the plans, many of the negroes 
from the South and Southeast, experienced in 
coal digging, were imported and immediately 
put to work. Farr left the Steele collieries a 
few days after the return of the operator from 
the conference, his portion of the work in 
charge of Canby. Following this came the 


324 


The Destroyers 


importation, stalwart young white men 
coming in with each load of negroes, and not 
one line of news was made public or even 
given to the operators who were footing the 
bills until just before their arrival at the 
destination, when a telegram from “F” 
apprised the employer of their approach. 

The Governor, impressed into their service 
by Morley and other labor leaders, was 
brought to understand that this importation 
of alien labor would wreck the standing of the 
State, would hurt the citizenship, would be 
certain to injure the good-will of the ballot- 
box in all coming elections. Still hugging 
some phantom, labor-made, the Governor 
issued a proclamation to the operators that 
they must import no more pauper or alien 
laborj and that he would station troops at the 
State line to enforce his pronunciamento. At 
once, to cover their actions, the operators 
issued letters to the Executive containing 
pretty phrases, platitudes and compliments, 
but not making a single promise of obeying 
the gubernatorial order. In keeping with his 
proclamation, soldiers were placed at various 
points where railroads crossed into the State 
from the southward, armed with orders to 
stop every train of negroes and turn it back 


The Destroyers 


325 


unless the occupants could show good reason 
why they were entering the State and could 
also show tickets issued by the railway com- 
panies. This was easily dodged by the astute 
Farr. No negroes were hindered from enter- 
ing the State, even though union pickets 
watched the passengers of every train far 
South. Of a sudden the alien labor arrived 
from all four sides, and the Governor found 
himself unable to protect the union, even 
though its representatives came to him hourly 
with news of later arrivals. 

As each of the operators found his 
collieries supplied with sufficient men, he 
issued statements that he would operate his 
mines at the Steele-stated advance, “without 
the aid or consent of any organization of 
labor,” according to the laws of the common- 
wealth, and that he would not accept inter- 
ference of any kind, but would resort to 
reasonable defense for the lives of his men 
and for his property, expecting the full 
support of the State authorities if the miners 
became riotous beyond the control of city and 
county officials. 

Whipped at every turn in the West, unable 
to guard their interests successfully, even with 
the aid of the Governor, the labor leaders 


326 


The Destroyers 


took the matter before the President at Wash- 
ington, representing the case as one of inter- 
state commerce, one in which the country at 
large would suffer in the suffering of any 
State. Fair in his judgment and believing 
that his counsel could be of some avail in the 
matter, the President asked the operators for 
a conference on industrial conditions. This 
was promptly refused, though politely, since, 
as the operators stated, they were suffering no 
industrial troubles, operating their mines on 
full time, selling product as the trade 
demanded, with all facilities for supplying a 
greater demand if need called, and at prices 
slightly below what had been asked before 
the miners issued their strike order. They 
also showed plainly enough that pauperism 
had nothing to do with the situation, that the 
wages paid were above those prior to March 
I, and the labor was quiet and law-abiding at 
all times. 

For a week previous to May-day it was 
currently remarked that organized labor 
would make a demonstration. But May-day 
came and went without any attempt at more 
than a slight observance of the time. Imme- 
diately on the publication of the news of a 
demonstration Steele had issued a statement. 


The Destroyers 


327 


followed by other operators in the State, say- 
ing that if any May-day or other demonstra- 
tion on the part of any body whatsoever 
tended to injure the operation of the 
collieries, or if an attempt was made to show 
active animosity toward the men then operat- 
ing the mines, the operators would be com- 
pelled to protect themselves at whatever 
hazard; that local police, reinforced, if neces- 
sary, at the expense of the operators, would 
be called upon to give the needed protection. 

Thus the situation a month after the strike 
began was anything but favorable to labor. 
The keenest among the leaders were searching 
below the surface for the weapon which they 
might use to drive the operators into subjec- 
tion. None could they find. It was now 
become a stern battle between labor and 
capital, the fittest in which would survive. At 
no time did the operators say they were fight- 
ing labor. In fact, they enunciated their 
principles at all times as being, not inimical to 
labor, but opposed to the present methods of 
the union. Labor they needed, as evidenced 
by the very fact that they were going to a 
greater expense to get it and were paying a 
higher wage to that labor; but the radicalism 
of the union, the desire of that union to be all- 


328 


The Destroyers 


powerful in matters of political, social, and 
industrial interest, even going to the end of 
entering political conferences with their cry 
that “labor must be heard,” was the point at 
issue, and the operators had determined that 
it should go no farther. They were now to 
crush what threatened in a few years to 
become the canker-worm of Western civiliza- 
tion, eating out the very heart of society. 

The letter from Edith, following the tele- 
gram he had received on the day of the 
arrival of the military in Fenton, was 
answered by Steele with such promptness and 
with so much of interest that she had replied 
immediately, and there had sprung up an ani- 
mated correspondence during the succeeding 
weeks. Their missives, friendlily dignified, 
were excellent mediums for the transportation 
of their varying or opposing ideas about the 
industrial troubles, for Edith still made these 
the principal subject of correspondence as she 
had of conversation. With adroitness 
unexampled, Steele tried to draw her into the 
discussion of other topics, or of one topic of 
more immediate interest to him than even the 
industrial situation in the State, but failed 
because of her adroitness. Even more tactful 
in authorship than in verbal annunciation, she 


The Destroyers 


329 


playfully twitted him for his failure to write 
with any unity of thought. He protested 
against her dodging his questions and 
threatened to come immediately to the metrop- 
olis unless she made reply of some definite- 
ness. When he did this she replied that she 
would come back to Fenton; and so it was 
that ten days before the May-day Miss Edith 
Markham stepped off at the depot from a 
south-bound train. 

From then until May-day they were much 
together, riding, driving, boating. The 
weather in that latter part of April was all 
that could have been desired. The car was 
little used; on horseback and afoot they gal- 
loped or roamed along country roads, 
through fields and woods, stopping to pick the 
earlier flowers of spring or to listen to the 
mate-call of the dove or catbird, or to trace 
the location of some happy, hidden thrush, 
pouring out its melody at early morn and late 
at eve. From sometimes near and sometimes 
far they watched the home-building of a 
happy pair of feathered lovers, or noted with 
eager eyes, for both loved Nature, how the 
love-lorn swain of the air brought food and 
sustenance to his mate while she cared for and 
guarded the home. The blue and dogtooth 


330 


The Destroyers 


violets, from out their covert dwellings in new- 
sprung clumps of green, watched this worldly 
couple as they laughed and sang with the 
exultation of freedom and happiness, swayed 
in their feelings by the omnipotence of spring. 
The May-apple, too, from beneath its tri-leaf 
coverlet, peeped out in springtime laughter 
at the happy pair, while the squirrels, leaping 
from limb to limb, or perching high in air, 
dropped twigs or winter-old acorns down 
upon them to show that they, too, approved. 

On this memorable first of May Steele was 
sitting in the office, working and planning the 
defense in case of eventualities. 

“Hello, Tom!” 

“Hello, Jack! Where from?” as Steele 
grasped the hand of his old friend. Kinney 
had withdrawn from Fenton a few days after 
the last riot. 

“Been up to the capital, and from there to 
Chi. Looking around for something to do, 
Tom. I’m getting tired of this roaming 
about the world and finding home only where 
my hat is off.” 

“I thought so, old man. Have a cigar? I 
thought the time would come when the nomad 
spirit would be overwhelmed. Been there 
myself, you know. I saw a bit of the world 


The Destroyers 


331 


in my wandering, Jack, but. I’ll tell you, it 
feels great to be back at work, to have some- 
thing to think of, something to work for, 
something to keep your thoughts in one line. 
What is doing? 

“I haven’t settled it definitely yet. I was 
thinking of launching into business up in Chi., 
if I could get things to work all right.” 

From this they fell to discussing matters 
of general interest and finally got into the 
days of old, the inevitable end when two 
college mates get together, it matters not how 
often. At noon they dined at the Steele 
home, and Steele left the afternoon to Kinney, 
knowing that he had many friends whom he 
wished to see. 

The month began to wear. For several 
days he found Kinney regularly at the 
Spencer home. Several times he called, on 
each occasion to find Jack there ahead of him, 
and even when he asked for engagements for 
certain afternoons or evenings he learned that 
Kinney had already thought it wise to have 
engagements on those same dates. 

What could Edith mean? Was it only a 
coincidence that Kinney had returned to 
Fenton a few days following her arrival? 
Was it purely accidental that the young globe- 


332 


The Destroyers 


trotter had made engagements for the exact 
periods sought by him ? Could it be possible 
that Edith cared for Kinney more than he had 
surmised? She had been such a comrade 
during those ten days^ her life again had be- 
come so much a part of his that Steele found 
the days and hours lonely now. 

The details of his work he attacked with 
greater energy and zeal, and poor Jones 
realized that something more than a simple 
pressure of business had actuated this increase 
in the strenuous labor. Not being a logician, 
not even being capable of doing much more 
than the routine of his daily labors, or not 
caring particularly, Jones did not find the rea- 
son. But Jones worked, for the dictation he 
received was at lightning speed and no cor- 
respondence was allowed to await the next 
day. 

Settling down to the political aspect Steele 
studied it out with a ferocity born of despera- 
tion. Something must occupy his whole at- 
tention, and politics, the greatest game extant 
for the occupation of the mind and energies 
of one to the manner born, was made the me- 
dium. Like a general making out his cam- 
paign of battle the young leader carefully 
looked over the field of contest, choosing here 


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and there the points of attack and of defense, 
calculating the strength and prowess of each 
of his expected antagonists with an unpreju- 
diced, unbiased mind, unhampered by per- 
sonal animosities, unhindered by other friend- 
ships. With precision he made out his lists, 
drew working details of county and district 
reinforcements, and named the regimental 
and company leaders to act in conjunction 
with his plans. Slowly at first, as he fought 
to gain absolute control of himself, and more 
rapidly as he found himself balked locally by 
the presence of Kinney, he formulated the 
whole proceeding of battle. 

No problem he left unsolved, or at least in 
a position for immediate solution when the 
remaining factor became evident in the con- 
vention. * 

Files of notes and clippings he drew from 
their secret hiding-places, and through them 
labored with due care, making notes and jot- 
tings, all of which he bundled together when 
he had done and placed them carefully away. 

The convention would soon be called to 
order. The greatest political contest the State 
had witnessed in decades, if ever as great, 
would be waged in that hall. The Governor, 
Steele-made, would fall by the hand of him 


334 


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who had lifted the puppet to its place. The 
power behind the throne had been ill-treated : 
the minion must pay the cost. Again it was 
but the law of compensation acting along the 
same old channels. Capital must be re- 
spected, property rights must be protected at 
all costs. Men must pay for the mistakes 
they have made. His guidance had been of- 
fered, even forced, but had been cast aside. 
Nothing could save the Governor from the 
fall. The time had come for drastic action, 
and he would lead in the fight to bring about 
more stable, more certain government. 

Stratton, now growing well along in years, 
but still strong and hearty, who had led the 
party in many a hard-fought contest, who was 
always to be depended upon in critical mo- 
ments, the man whom Steele had fought and 
defeated in the memorable battle of four 
years agone, must be brought back into the 
arena, not as a spectator or as an advisor, but 
as an active participant. With his plans thus 
demanding the old warhorse, Steele wrote to 
him a lengthy letter, partially explaining the 
situation as he viewed it now, asking Stratton 
to confer with him as soon as convenient in 
Fenton. 

Late in the evening, two days after, a tele- 


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335 


gram apprised Steele of the coming of Strat- 
ton on the morrow from Chicago, whither he 
had gone hurriedly to attend other matters. 

While sitting at his desk, waiting for some 
word of the arrival of the old politician the 
next day, Steele was given a surprise as the 
door opened and a young lady ushered her- 
self, unannounced, into the office. 

“Hello, Tommy!” 

“Hello, Nelle; I’m mighty glad to see 
you. What’s the cause of this surprise?” 
Steele’s gladness echoed in his voice. 

“Stratton came down from Chicago this 
morning,” watching him very closely. 

“Oho I So you are out on the political line 
now, eh?” 

“Not especially, Tom, but I had nothing 
else to do and I asked for this assignment 
when I learned they were going to send some- 
body to watch proceedings. I have some- 
thing to tell you, something else to ask you, 
and some mighty fine advice to hand to you.” 

And in walked Stratton. 


CHAPTER XXI 


“He must be swept out of the chair, and I 
will not have him for any position that can be 
given. He has been false to a trust — that’s 
all. Here is your chance, Stratton. We have 
been enemies, not from choice on my part, but 
simply and solely because your side of the 
argument represented something contrary to 
what I wanted. We can whip any combina- 
tion if we fight together. If we fight 
against each other, I shall have to whip you 
out again, or any one who represents you.” 

“How will you reconcile our friendship af- 
ter the fight of four years ago?” Stratton 
asked. 

“No reconciliation is necessary. Enemies 
and political opponents have lain down in 
peace together before this. The public will 
not remember any of the facts of the other 
fight, even if, in trying to explain, everything 
was told over again. The public is a mighty 
forgetful body, Stratton, and the public is 
mighty forgiving. It likes to go searching 
through a fellow’s private closet of skeletons, 
but after it has seen the wired relics it is just 


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337 


as apt to love him for his skeletons as it is to 
fight him for having them. Let the public 
do its own thinking; and if any of these so- 
called leaders and calculators wish to find the 
reasons, let them wait until the nominations 
are made.” 

“All right, Steele, I am with you. I sup- 
pose you already know what strength I have 
been gathering?” 

“Yes, indeed; I have been keeping a close 
eye on you, Stratton, and had it not been for 
the way you were preparing, like a seasoned 
campaigner, I would never have chosen you 
to help me now. I want you because you are 
a fighter and you know the tricks of the game. 
It was worth the while to whip you four years 
ago and it is well worth the while to know we 
are tied together this time.” 

“Here’s my word, then,” and Stratton 
reached across the table a hand which Steele 
grasped firmly and held for a long minute. 

By the time drinks had been brought to the 
room they had arranged the details of their 
next meeting and what work each should do 
before that meeting. 

Raising his glass contemplatively, and 
slowly rising, Steele gazed upon the contents, 
22 


338 


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then turned toward Stratton, who had also 
risen, and raised the glass yet higher — 

“Here’s to the success and long life of our 
next Governor — Leslie B. Stratton.” 

“And to the dauntless, undaunted leader of 
the party — Tom Steele.” 

So ended a conference which had lasted for 
two hours, beginning immediately after the 
evening meal. With the courage of one who 
knew whereof he spoke, Steele had presented 
his plans carefully to the older politician, feel- 
ing secure every moment that he was talking 
to a friend, certain that Stratton would accept 
when the right time came. Without becom- 
ing Governor, Steele would retain even firmer 
control of the organization of the party in 
the State and would elect a man in whom he 
could trust, a man who knew the ins and outs, 
the many intricacies of the political game, 
and, therefore, one who would not make many 
mistakes which it had been the misfortune of 
Governor Glenn to commit. Even while 
fighting Stratton, Steele had liked the man, 
admired him for what he had been and what 
he was, for the way he had gone down in de- 
feat, fighting every inch in a contest that had 
for days been perceptibly one-sided; Steele 
recalled many times how he had been forced. 


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339 


even when holding the whip in hand, to grant 
concessions to this courageous old campaigner 
solely because that dying leader had outgen- 
eraled him in some of the finer points. De- 
feated though he was, Stratton was thor- 
oughly respected by the leaders of politics, 
but by none more than the one by whom' he 
had suffered defeat. Never before, however, 
had two such opponents been brought to- 
gether without some outside influence by 
which their forces should fight side by side, 
and then had applied it in such a way that 
the other could not but accept. 

‘‘Tom, old man, IVe got something to ask 
you. It is a big favor, but we were good 
friends in the old days and you are the only 
one I would ask.*’ 

Jack called early the next morning at the 
office and found Steele engrossed in the daily 
papers. 

“I’ll do anything I can. Jack. What is it?” 

“Well, Tom, I want to get a loan of two 
thousand. I think I have a pretty good busi- 
ness venture in sight, and I am anxious to 
settle down.” 

“Anything serious. Jack? Going to get 


340 


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married? It looks suspicious when a fellow 
like you is thinking of settling down.” 

“That is about the size of it, Tom.” 

“Who is the fortunate one?” Tom asked 
with misgivings, fearing what the answer 
would be. 

“I haven’t asked her yet, but I feel pretty 
sure, you know.” 

“Come on — out with it. Who is she?” 

“Miss Markham.” 

He expected it. She really cared for Jack, 
then, and not for him. That explained why 
Kinney had come back to Fenton so soon after 
her return. 

Steele turned to his desk, opened a check- 
book and wrote for a moment, then turned to 
Kinney and handed him the slip. 

“Five thousand! I don’t need that much, 
Tom 1” 

“Take it, old man, I don’t need it. Let 
that be for the wedding present, too, because 
I won’t be in the country at the time. If you 
need any more, let me know. Don’t forget 
the old days. Jack, and remember, too, that 
Tom Steele never forgets his friends. Good 
luck to you, old boy, and God bless you!” 
Steele extended a hand across the table and 
grasped Kinney’s heartily. He rose from his 


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341 


place, walked to the window, and there was 
standing, hands in pockets, when Kinney left 
the office. 

That morning the Times came to Fenton 
with a sensational story of the proposed can- 
didacy of Thomas Steele, the operator, for 
the Governorship. In a somewhat general 
way It told of a misunderstanding between the 
Governor and Steele, after which the party 
leader had decided that the Governor must 
not be re-elected and that he should not* be 
given the position of United States Senator, 
which would the next winter be filled by the 
legislature. The plan was to elect Steele to 
the Gubernatorial chair and, with a Steele 
legislature, elect their chosen man to fill the 
Senatorial toga. In a veiled manner the 
story led Its readers to see that this election 
would be a fight of labor against capital, that 
the capitalistic leaders were preparing to oc- 
cupy every office of power, executive, legisla- 
tive and judicial, with which they would over- 
run labor. 

At once Steele recognized the Inspiration of 
the story and was able to know who had been 
the writers — Morley and Oiler. 

In the afternoon Miss Nelle Bldwell and 
the young operator-politician had a confer- 


342 


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ence and an interview in which a denial of the 
whole story was given. Another story be- 
sides this was sent to the Times, with a spe- 
cial request that it be published in another 
portion of the paper, to the effect that a long 
conference had been held by the old and new 
leaders of the party, Stratton and Steele, and 
saying that time would show a powerful coali- 
tion which would be beneficial to the entire 
State in the election, at least the nomination, 
of a man for Governor who was recognized 
in and out of party councils as one of the 
ablest in the State, a man who stood for prin- 
ciples and who would be a representative of 
the people. 

Having sent these messages to her paper, 
Miss Bidwell and Steele fell into conversa- 
tion of a different nature. Steele had not for- 
gotten the reason for the coming of the young 
lady to the mining town on this latest visit, 
and recalled to her the statement of the even- 
ing previous. 

“Well, Tommy, I wish to ask you what you 
are going to do with Phil. My reason may 
not be of any interest to you, but it is not for 
publication.’’ 

Steele looked sharply at her and studied 
for several minutes. In his calculating way 


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343 


his right hand was drawing unintelligible 
hieroglyphics on a sheet of paper, each line 
seeming to be put in place with certain pre- 
cision. 

“I don’t know, old girl. Phil has been a 
blamed good friend to me. I’ve got to do 
something worth the while for him, but I do 
not know whether he will consent to the plans 
I have made.” 

A long pause, during which many more 
marks of the same degree of intelligibility 
were carefully, methodically placed upon the 
paper. Looking up quickly at her he spoke 
again : 

“I have decided to take a long trip to 
Europe. My work for the last few years has 
been pretty strenuous, Nelle. These latter 
months of fighting the union have had their 
effect. I was feeling pretty strong before it 
commenced, but I feel out of sorts, tired, 
jaded, unable to do my work with the same 
enthusiasm. I haven’t been over to the old 
country since I left college and I believe the 
change would do me good. I need a man who 
can operate this business, and I don’t know of 
a better fellow than Phil. If he will accept 
the job I will make it pay him a good price, 
and when I return, if he has kept things going 


344 


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in the right way, I’ll make him a partner. 
But tell me your reason, Nelle.” 

“Are you sure it is the business alone that 
has cut down your health? How long have 
you been planning this trip. Tommy?” 

“Oh — I’ve been wanting to go to Europe 
for a long time.” 

“And you have only had this tired feeling 
since the strike began?” 

“Yes; I was weakening, of course, before 
that, but the extra work brought the whole 
thing to a climax.” 

“I — think — I understand.” 

Nelle leaned over the table, studying, ap- 
parently, the marks on the sheet which Steele 
had made. Contemplatively she sat for a 
few minutes, then slowly brought a steady 
gaze upon Steele. 

“Tommy, you are fibbing to me. Away 
back in the glad old days we were sweethearts. 
You loved me and I loved you with all the 
affection we knew as children. I have always 
loved you in that same way. Tommy — as a 
big brother. I have always built great castles 
in the air of what you would be when I saw 
you again. You are almost like my dreams 
had made you out. Here you are at the head 
of the party, a leader, aggressive, a man who 


The Destroyers 


345 


is known over the whole country as one who 
loves to fight for the sake of the fighting, but 
always for a principle. You have whipped out 
the union; that is something unlooked for 
even by the best students of economy. No 
one but a fighter of your indomitable will 
could have won. You have been a general 
throughout the entire trouble, as you always 
were in the old days. Fooling the enemy into 
thinking a well-fortified place was a weak 
point you have brought them to disadvan- 
tage, and won. And yet, you silly goose, you 
are not general enough to see that the girl 
you love, the one whom you would leave, is 
in love with you.” 

“You’re wrong, Nelle; Jack is to marry 
her.” 

“Jack! Jack! Who told you so ?” 

“He did.” 

“When?” 

“This morning.” 

“Did he say positively?” 

“No, but he said he was going to ask to- 
night. And they have been together almost 
continually since he came back to town. She 
turned me aside for him.” 

“And you are going to let him ask her first? 
Tommy, you’re a fool, a right down fool, 


346 


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You go up there as soon as you can and tell 
her that you love her. Treat her like you 
would any enemy. Get her cornered and 
force her to surrender. Tommy, old boy, 
promise me, won’t you, promise me you will 
go to Edith and ask her. I know, I know. 
Tommy, she might fool you because you are 
a man — you haven’t any better sense. Won’t 
you please go to her and ask her?” 

Her hands were clasping his across the lit- 
tle table, her eyes gazing at him pleadingly. 
Taking a long breath while he looked help- 
lessly at her, he turned his head away, glanc- 
ing to his well-made hieroglyphics, and an- 
swered : 

“Yes, Nelle, old girl. I’ll go because you’ve 
asked me. But it isn’t any use. She will 
promise to Jack, and I won’t go up there now 
before Jack has the chance.” 

“To-night, then. Tommy. You promise on 
your word?” 

And he nodded yes. 

As he ascended the steps of the Spencer 
home that evening, with many misgivings, he 
heard subdued voices at the covered end of 
the porch. 

“Come this way, Mr. Steele,” called 
Edith’s voice. 


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347 


“I have not seen you for several days, and 
they tell me that you have been doing things, 
too. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself for not 
advising with me?” As she gave him her 
hand it pressed his a little more firmly than 
had been its wont, and Steele found himself 
studying the situation as he sought words for 
a reply. 

By this time Jack had reached them, and 
offering his hand to her he said good night, 
then turned to Steele — 

“Lots of things to attend to, Tom, and you 
must excuse me.” 

Steele was sure there was a hearty grasp of 
the hand as Jack said this, and he began his 
questions again. Had Jack asked and been 
accepted? Was he leaving now so that Miss 
Markham could break the news to him 
gently? — for, of course, they would tell him 
immediately. Did that extra pressure tell him 
that Jack had been successful? The answers, 
though not definite, perhaps, were in the af- 
firmative, as he followed her to the other end 
of the porch. She seemed preoccupied and 
did not answer him with the same keenness 
and understanding that she had shown at 
other times. Did this, too, show that Jack 


348 


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had been accepted and that she was thinking 
of the man who had just gone? 

For a reasonable time this continued, until, 
certain that she was not interested, he made 
his excuses and rose to go. Instead of rising, 
too, she remained seated, looking straight 
ahead, still seeming occupied with her own 
thoughts. 

“Tom,” she hesitated, “you and Jack are 
good friends?” 

“The best in the world. I would do any- 
thing I could to help him. You know we 
were mates and chums together in the old 
days.” 

“What would you be willing to do for 
him?” 

Great goodness ! This showed it was cer- 
tain! Jack needed more help and she was 
about to ask it I 

“I have already offered to give him the 
only thing in the world that I care for. My 
own life is the only thing he hasn’t asked for 
and received,” he laughed a little bitterly. 

“You did not give him that with true 
friendship?” 

“Yes, I did. True friendship is in giving 
the very things for which we care the most. 

I have given him all I care for.” 


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349 


“What right had you to give?” 

“From my standpoint, none whatever. 
Had I been actuated by my own desires I 
would never have done so. I would have 
fought to the last ditch to keep it for myself. 
But — but — I thought — ” 

“You thought you cared more for some one 
else?” 

“For some one else! Edith! Edith, girl, 
have I ever shown that I cared for some one 
else? Haven’t I shown in every way that I 
love you with all my heart?” 

He had forgotten Jack, forgotten that he 
had given to him the only thing for which he 
cared, forgotten all save that she was here 
with him, that he loved her, and that she had 
dared ask if he cared for some one else. 
Close beside her was he now, speaking in low 
tones, tones filled with the emotion of a 
pent-up soul broken loose from its bonds. 

“Because I thought you cared the more for 
him I gave my friend what he asked. I 
thought it would make you happy. But I 
want to claim you back. Edith — I want you 
for my own !” 

Her hands were in his as he spoke, and 
slowly, as he said these words, he lifted her 
to her feet, toward him, to his arms, where 


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her head rested on his shoulder, his strong 
arms about her while she sobbed gently, and 
both were silent. 

She looked up at him, smiling through her 
tears — 

“He told me everything, Tom, but I did 
not love him enough. And, I wondered if 
you would come.’’ 

“You wondered if I would come?” puz- 
zled. 

“Yes,” she nodded and laughed, “Nelle 
telephoned me late this afternoon that you 
were coming on some important business. 
Isn’t she a dear?” 




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